Lily's Prisoner
by His Lil' Half-Blood Princess
Summary: Lily arrests Severus Snape during a raid of his house. She's become famous for capturing the wanted Death Eater. One problem: Severus let her capture him. This is the story of their fights and friendship. Prequel to Lily's Lover. COMPLETE!
1. The Capture

**A****/N: Decided, I'll have a little prison fun, eh? I am going to torture Severus Snape in this fic, yes I am! Mwah ha ha!!!! I am a Female Voldemort; Victoria! Anyway, disclaimer, ya di dah, this isn't related to my other fics. ENJOY!!!**

Lily Potter barged into his room, panting, looking around. Where was he? "The room's clear!"" She shouted down the stairs. Sirius, James and Ned came running up the stairs.

"God, this place is small!" Sirius commented. "Filled with books too, huh? Gosh!" He sighed. 'I'm doing a rerun. C'mon James, Ned, let's go." The three men walked out of the room.

Lily walked down the stairs into the deserted sitting room. She sighed and leaned against a bookshelf. There was a rumbling behind her. She sighed, thinking nothing of it, then felt a draft and fell into a cold stone corridor. She stood up, and watched the bookshelf shut behind her. She shivered. Bravely, she took out her wand, muttered "Lumos," and then walked down the cold hallway. This had to be where he was hiding. She picked up her pace, when there was a flash, and Lily fell to the floor. Another little circle of white light formed above her, and it was coming closer. "I'm going to see God," she whispered.

"No, you're going to see me." He said, offering his hand to her. She grimaced and accepted the dirty hand. She stood up and dusted off her robes. "Sorry about that, it was supposed to go off on an intruder."

"It wasn't supposed to go off on an intruder, it _did _go off on an intruder."

"Realistically, yes. In a Metamorphic sense, no." She raised her wand to his neck. He looked at her, his expression, she didn't know. It was too dark. He seemed to read her mind, and he turned on his wand.

His hair was a bit stragglier, his face a bit dirtier and his robes were ripped. His expression was almost of amusement. But his eyes were what surprised her. They were still the same black, bright gleaming eyes they had always been. "Sorry, again," he whispered.

"Whatever," she said. She put her wand down. "And of course, I've gone to chase after every thief, murderer, and Death Eater in this country and _of course _I catch you!"

"Isn't that a good thing for an Auror, especially one like you? To catch a wanted criminal, especially one like me?"

"Yes, but I'll feel terribly guilty arresting you!"

"So? You'll get your well-deserved praise! You'll get money to help raise your son! When you say a room is clear, they won't have to come and make sure, they'll trust you!"

She stared at him quizzically. "Do you want me to arrest you?"

"I'm not mad, Lily. Of course not. But, if you did arrest me, you'd get all those galleons. And I . . . well, let's just say we'll both get what we deserve."

He was scaring her. _"Expelliarmus!" _she said and his wand flew away from him. The light had vanished as well. Lily sighed. _"Accio Wand!" _and his wand flew to her. _"Lumos!" _she said to it and it lightened. She put her own wand to his neck.

"I don't wanna arrest you. I'll let you go, if, and only if, you promise to come to the light side, where we can help you. "

"Why?"

"Well look at you! You're hiding in your house from the Aurors, you're filthy, and you're wanted as well! Tell me, how is that for you?"

"I am not hiding in my house, I'm waiting. I knew you were coming, and, actually, I could escape right now if I wanted to. Besides, there was a time when you also were 'hiding' in your house, but from the Death Eaters, am I correct? There was a time when after weeks of dueling and hunting and hiding you were also filthy too. I thought you were a new brunette Auror! And in case you didn't notice, you're wanted as well."

She stared at him. "Really?" she whispered.

"Oh yes, but not many know it yet. Actually, I was the first to know."

They stared at each other. "Lily . . ."

"So . . . I should arrest you?"

"If you find it necessary."

"I . . . what do you think?"

"I think it is."

Lily grasped his two fists with one hand and her wand to his neck with the other. "Are you a good actor?"

"Fairly." Then he shouted. "_Get your filthy hands off me, you disgusting Mudblood!" _He looked back at her. "How's that?"

She smiled, knowing he didn't mean it. "Good. Now, let me think." Then she shouted. "Stay still!" She pushed him down the hall, and pushed the bookshelf back, and they were in his sitting room again. "_James! I found him!" _Four Aurors dove down the stairs; James, Sirius, Remus, and Ned. James opened his mouth in surprise. Remus stared in disbelief, Ned's eyes grew wide and Sirius said:

"_YOU CAUGHT SNAPE?!"_

A/N: I know it's short, but the next chapter will be better. I'll upload in a week, hopefully. REVIEW!!!!


	2. The Prisoner's Request

A/N: Hello people of Earth! I'm in the car!!! With my laptop! LOLZ ! Anyway, I'm sorry, this might not be my best, but hey, I tried! To all my reviewers, Gosh, you rock! Thanks loads! Sorry this is short. Here we go! Oops, 4got, I don't own HP, that's JKR and WB. Now, this is real: Here we go! Enjoy!!!

How long he had been in Azkaban, he didn't know.

It felt like years, but it couldn't have been more than a few months. Still, rotting in a cell in Azkaban was not how he would've liked to be spending his time. He was dirty and hungry and once a week, happy Aurors would throw out insults and shouts of _Crucio! _And threats. Would it hurt them to interrogate him just by asking, "Ok, what did you do?" instead of torturing him? They _had_ to give him bruises and broken bones. Not to mention the dementors sucking all his happiness and good thoughts and memories.

Snape lay in the dust of the dirty cell, tears streaming down his face. He was tired and hungry and he knew, deep within him, he would never leave this cell, only to go to his trial, and to return. But . . . Lily was happy, wasn't she? She was famous for capturing him, which was worth it. That was worth all of it.

It was . . . well he didn't know, was it day or night? What season was it, what day, what month? It was . . . sometime, when he heard the sound of footsteps. He looked up from where he was curled up, face in hands, in the corner of the filthy cell. And he saw her.

"Severus? Sev, are you OK?"

She had come! She had missed him, and from the tone of her voice, she was worried. "Lily, I . . . I'm fine." He lied in his horse voice. She unlocked the cell door and slipped in, locking it behind her. She ran toward him and knelt down. She put her warm hand on his freezing shoulder. He flinched; it didn't feel normal, compared to the constant cold he had been feeling for the past month.

"Oh, Severus, these robes are too thin, you must be freezing!" A tear slid down her face. "You're so . . . so-"

"Dirty?" he asked. He tried to smile at her. "Yes, I know. Prison . . . it hasn't done me much good."

"We should have never done this, Severus, this was stupid. You're here, cold, and dirty and . . . and . . ."

"Lily, I thought you'd never care." He said. She looked at him.

"I do care! It's just . . . that was just . . . I don't know if I can forgive you for saying . . . that."

He said nothing, but turned away and tried to blink back his tears. But he failed and a clean, hot tear, slipped down his cheek, creating a clean line on his face. "Lily, you should go. The dementors, they aren't good for you."

"I don't care! I care that I made a mistake. Sure, I have money and fame, but I don't care! I . . ."

"Lily, either way, I would've been caught. I'm a Death Eater, I'm a criminal, I . . . I deserve this." He didn't want to admit such a thing, but still, this was Lily, and he loved her so much, he was ready to admit anything to her. Except . . . that.

She stood up. "I'm sorry I can't stay longer, the prison guard at the front said I only had ten minutes to visit you. Has anyone else come?"

"Just the Aurors, and well . . . I haven't exactly enjoyed their visits much." He showed her his broken wrist and gave her a weak smile. "It's not so bad, it doesn't hurt much." He lied. She sighed and walked toward the exit, unlocking the door, and locking it behind her as she left, not daring to look at him again.

* * *

Albus Dumbledore was extremely proud of Lily. He was happy for her, catching her first criminal, an extremely dangerous one, in fact. Besides, one Death Eater less, especially after the prophecy incident, though Dumbledore hadn't a clue who the prophecy was referring to. Still, he was happy Snape was locked up, and now the Minister wanted him to interrogate Snape in his own way.

He walked up to Snape's cell and the dementors left, knowing it was another interrogation. Dumbledore looked through the bars at the frail man, curled up in the corner, knees to his chest, elbows on his knees and his left hand rubbing the wrist of his right. He heard Snape sigh. Dumbledore coughed and Snape looked up.

"Hello, Severus." Said Dumbledore.

Snape hovered in the corner. "Don't . . . please, don't . . . don't hurt me . . . please-"

"I have no intention of harming you, Severus. I am here to interrogate you."

"Aren't they the same thing?"

"No, not in my definitions." He unlocked the door and stepped in, locking it behind him, as Lily had done. He strode casually toward where the prisoner sat, frightened by Dumbledore's presence. Dumbledore sat on the bench in the cell. "Tell me, Severus, why did you become a Death Eater?"

He told him. He told him all about what happened in his life, why he went to the Dark Side.

They spoke for quite some time, and Severus was surprised at the cordial conversation. At the end of the conversation, Dumbledore stood up and sighed. "While, Severus, I believe I should go and tell the Minister what I think."

"What . . . what do you think?"

Dumbledore sighed again. "I'm afraid, I find you guilty, Severus."

Severus stared at him. "No, no, no . . . but, I-"

"I'm sorry, Severus, I cannot lie on your behalf." He turned to go, when Severus Snape began pleading

"No, no! I can help you, I know something, I know something! I can help you win the war, the Dark Lord, he has forbidden me to speak of this, but please, if you help me, I'll help you, if you save her, please!"

Dumbledore turned around and stared at the pleading man. "It depends," he said. "What is it that you wish to tell me, Severus?"

**A/N: OOH, cliffhanger! Dun, Dun, Dun! Sry, I'll name ALL the reviewers next chapter. Happy Easter!!! If you're an atheist, happy random Sunday! BYE!!! Oh, R&R plz! Rnt u glad lent is over (not that I gave anything up, I forgot. Oops.). TTYL!**


	3. The Prophecy

**A/N: I am soooo happy people like this story, it means loads to me! Memba last time, I said I'd name all reviewers? Well, I love all my reviewers who are members and I replied to your reviews, so you know I love ya! Well, because some reviewers are anonymous, and I can't reply to express my love, I'll reply here, though I doubt you'll read it!**

**Chapter 1:**

**Reviewer: catintheSky**

**Review: Very interesting and original plot. Please update soon!**

**Thanks for your time and talent**.

Reply: Ooooohhhh, you're so awesome, cat! Thanks for reviewing for my other stories and please, review again, if you like.

**Chapter 2**

**Reviewer: abda**

**Review: Sev wouldn't have acted like that at all.**

**Reply: Well, I obviously don't agree with you, or else I wouldn't have written the story! But thanks for reviewing anyway! :\**

**Reviewer: KEWLIO**

**Review: PLESE Update Soon**

**Reply: Thanks for reviewing. Um . . . you spelled 'please' wrong, but who cares! There are people dying in China, and we don't need to worry over these petty little things, like spelling errors! Thanks for reviewing (again)! **** :p**

**And please, everybody, review.**

Disclaimer: I don't own HP, and it don't own me! Now repeat after me!

_**Flashback:**_

"How many nights?"

"Three, please,"

Aberforth slammed the key to the room on to the counter. "Three nights," he said. "That'll be six galleons and three sickles."

Snape slammed the money down on to the table. Being unemployed really sucked, having to stay at the Hog's Head! But in three sweet days, Spinner's End would be his, and he would have a house. But he decided to not stay at Malfoy Manor any longer, his godson, Draco, had been born and he knew the parents would want to spend quality time with the child. Besides, the Dark Lord told him many times that interesting company stayed at the Hog's Head and he told Snape to keep an eye and ear out for anything suspicious. Snape looked up to the Dark Lord, and always obeyed and believed him. So Snape decided to seize the opportunity.

He walked into the small, dirty room with his two bags and put them down. He didn't own much, and he was used to small, disgusting conditions, but this was . . . Well, this was overload. And ha, Dumbledore's stupid goat brother didn't even recognize that a Death Eater, who was so close to becoming one of the wanted criminals, had just walked into his pub and was going to be there for three days. Well, he wasn't exactly well known, but Dumbledore knew he was a Death Eater. And he didn't tell his brother? What an idiot!

Snape didn't do much for the next three days. He checked on his (almost) house, and he went to one Death Eater meeting. Finally, his last day came and he was walking in Hogsmeade. When he was finished, he went inside. He walked slowly down the hall, when he heard a shriek coming from a door. Snape quickly put his ear next to the keyhole, when he heard this:

"_THE ONE WITH THE POWER TO VANQUISH THE DARK LORD APROACHES . . . BORN TO THOSE WHO HAVE THRICE DEFIED HIM, BORN AS THE SEVENTH MONTH DIES . . ."_

"Snape! What do you think you're doing, listening at keyholes, ya scum?"

Snape turned around to see Aberforth, looking at him with an evil glare.

"I wouldn't be calling anybody but what you see in the mirror scum, Aberforth." He said in a cold tone.

"Why you little" He grasped Snape's collar, and pushed the door open. "Albus . . . oh, I'm sorry, were you having an _important _meeting?" Aberforth's dislike for his brother was beginning to show.

"Actually, we were," he said. He sat across from a dizzy looking Trelawney. "But Sybil here had, er, dozed off. What is it, Aberforth? Oh, hello, Severus."

"This piece of dirt-" said Aberforth, violently shaking Snape by his collar. "-Has been listening at your keyhole."

"I wasn't," Snape said. "I lost my way up the God damn stairs and I was only going to knock and see if anybody could help me find my way, that's all, you filthy, accusing goat!" Aberforth gripped Snape tighter.

"Aberforth," said Dumbledore calmly, though there was anger in his eyes. "Don't choke him, I need to speak to him."

Aberforth grimaced, but let Snape go. "Sybil, I will send your results in a few days time." Said Dumbledore and Trelawney nodded absent mindedly and began picking up her bags, which smelled like cooking sherry. She stopped nodding and looked bak up at Dumbledore "You may go." He said. Sybil Trelawney gave a nod and exited, followed by Aberforth, who saw her dizziness and helped her out.

"Hello, Severus," he said, putting away a bottle of firewhiskey that he had shared with Trelawney. He knew very well that Severus Snape did not drink. "How are you?"

"What do you want?" snapped Snape. "I have much more important things to do then to hear you talk rubbish!"

"Like listening at keyholes and cursing at bartenders? Very imporatnat things indeed." Dumbledore strolled over towards Snape and they stood facing each other.

"Hurry up, old man," said Snape. "I have no time for this. Get to the point."

"Very well then, Severus," said Dumbledore. Suddenly, his voice grew quiet and his eyes looked angry and dangerous. "I find it extremely hard to believe that an intelligent and proud man like you would ever get lost in a small, shabby pub like this, and would ever ask for help." He spoke very slowly. "I know you heard what Sybil said. Tell me now, _what did you hear?"_

"What's it to you, old man? What does it matter what I heard and what I didn't. Why should I tell you anyway?" Snape pulled out his wand and pointed it at Dumbledore.

"Because, if you don't tell me," said Dumbledore. "I'm afraid, I'll have to kill you, so this secret won't get out. Maybe put you in Azkaban, if I can trust you enough." He slipped Snape's wand out Snape's hand and put his own to Snape's neck. "I hate threatening, Severus, but unfortunately, many a time, it is necessary." Snape raised and eyebrow, his eyes wide.

"I'll tell you what I heard," he said. "I heard that some kid was born in late July and he will destroy the Dark Lord, and that he's going to be born to somebody who's defied the Dark Lord three times." He smirked. "Whatever that rubbish means."

"That's it?"

"Yes, old man." He said with a sneer. Dumbledore handed him his wand. "You'll be sorry when we defeat this child that will 'defeat' the Dark Lord. You'll be sorry you ever let me go." He swept out the room. Dumbledore was left, stricken.

A few days later, Voldemort sat on his high chair, listening to every Death Eaters report. They were all so boring, why was this his occupation? Why couldn't he be a dragon slayer or something _interesting _instead of some moron who makes idiots his slaves? He could've been a Wizengamot or a spell breaker or whatever they were called, at Gringotts. Oh no, not him, he was going to be a slave driver? He must've been drunk during his conference with Slughorn:

"_Well, Tom, ma boy, what do you want to be when you grow up?"_

"_I want to make people my slaves, professor!"_

What had he been thinking? He didn't know, but he couldn't just retire, he had to win this battle. "Snape, report."

Snape stood up. "My Lord, I have overheard a prophecy that concerns you greatly."

That woke everybody up. "Really?" said Voldemort with interest. "Where were you when you heard this prophecy?" Maybe slave driving wasn't too bad.

"The Hog's Head, My Lord."

"And who gave this prophecy?" _Probably nobody extremely interesting, if they were at the Hog's Head._

"Sybil Trelawney, My Lord."

"Very well continue, and Severus, try to say it exactly as you heard it. This is the most interesting bit of news I've gotten all day and I want to cherish it."

"Very well," Snape said. "The one who has the power to defeat the Dark Lord approaches, born as the seventh month dies, to those who have defied the Dark Lord thrice." A few Death Eaters gasped.

"Is that all?" Snape nodded. "Well, isn't this curious? A child born at the end of . . . July is to defeat me?" There were a few cackles of laughter. Voldemort began to slide his wand through his fingers. "Well, I believe I will have to take action, whether this is a set up or not. Let me see, a child born at the end of July? They must have Order parents, correct? Lucius, do you know any, from the Ministry?"

Lucius Malfoy stood up. "The Longbottoms have a son, My Lord, born on July 30th. His parents are Aurors, Alice and Frank Longbottom. He is not even one."

"Have they defied me thrice? One, two . . . yes, indeed they have. Baby Neville Longbottom, my greatest threat. How humorous." Voldemort stood up. "Well, I will take immediate action. Meanwhile, I shall-"

"My Lord!"

_Sigh. Women. Seriously, how annoying they are! _"Yes, Bella, what is it?" Gosh was he sick of her!  
"There is another child!"

More gasps. "Yes, Bella, who?" said Voldemort, listening a bit more intently now,

"The Potters son, Harry. He is born on the 31st of July and his parents have defied you thrice! He is just an infant as well!"

Voldemort stood in thought for a while. "Indeed," he said. "But who to choose, which one is the threat? One is pureblood, one is half-blood, which?"

Cries of "pureblood is the threat" came from across the room. Snape prayed inside of him, _Please, the Longbottoms, the Longbottoms, not the Potters. _ Finally, Voldemort raised a hand.

"No," he said quietly. "I am going to kill the three Potters."

And Snape's heart shattered.

**A/N: I am soooo mean, I know. Don't worry, next chapter is going to be the end of last chapter's cliffhanger and the chapter after that will finish this one, and will be cliffhanger free . . . for now! I'm planning the whole story and you guys are going to be soooo surprised at how this plays out! TTYL! **


	4. The Purchase

**A/N: I had a chapter for this story all done when my computer crashed and it was gone. I'm actually pretty glad about that though, because I've got some great inspiration since and this chapter is better than the original. Really sorry I haven't updated, but with exams and writer's block, things haven't been going so well. But now, I'm ready to write again since that's all over. My goal is to have Life Changing Letters done, Lily's Prisoner almost done, Lily's Prisoner's Sequel planned out, The Darker Path almost done, and have ten new drabbles published by the end of the summer. That's a LOT of writing, but I can totally do it. I'm also working on a new story that I am going to publish all at once at Christmas. That means every chapter published on the same day! WOW! But for now, enjoy this chapter that has taken me forever to write!**

**Thanks to SeverusSnape19 for given me the "Snape gets bought" idea.**

Dumbledore stood in the Minister's office as the Minister poured some wine for them. It had been two weeks since Dumbledore had seen Snape and a week since Snape's trial "Well, Dumbledore, I didn't expect you back here so soon, I have to admit." The Minister walked over to Dumbledore and handed him the glass. He rose it to the older man and they both drank. "So, Dumbledore, it looks like as though something is on your mind. Why exactly is it you've come?" Dumbledore finished his drink and out the glass down on the desk beside him. The Minister ushered Dumbledore to sit down.

Dumbledore cleared his throat. "Minister, it has come to my attention that there is one prisoner in Azkaban who ought not be there?"

The Minister raised an eyebrow. "Go on," he said.

"It's that boy. Severus Snape, the one who was brought here a month back. I want him."

The Minster spluttered. "Want him? You mean you want to have him taken out of prison? Are you mad? He'll go back to join You-Know-Who!"

"If he is to be let free, he would be under my supervision and protection for as long as you find necessary." said Dumbledore reasonably.

"Now see here, Dumbledore!" the Minister said, a bit angry. "You can't just go and release prisoners at your own leisure! Especially not high-security prisoners, sentenced to a lifetime in Azkaban who have tortured, murdered, and kidnapped!"

"He is merely a boy who made a mistake," said Dumbledore. "Tell me, if you were a boy, who had basically no family, no money, no life ahead of him and you decided your only option was to join Voldemort-"

The Minister flinched, then said, "Exactly! He joined You-Know-Who! That's a mistake I wouldn't have made!"

"Please let me finish," said Dumbledore. "As I was saying, you joined Voldemort-" The Minister flinched. "- and you thought it was your ticket to power and money and adoration, but instead you forced to kill, torture, and kidnap, would you say you deserved Azkaban?"

"Of course I wouldn't because it's me!" said the Minister angrily, not understanding the metaphor. "If it was somebody else, however, yes, because no matter the stress, he still committed the crime." The Minister leaned back in his chair. "Besides, why do you want him? The boy's useless, weak, scrawny, and obviously, stupid because of his actions."

Dumbledore smiled and put a bag of gold on the table. "Why do you want him?" asked Dumbledore.

The Minister looked at him for a moment, about to protest that the boy was a murdering piece of filth, then took the bag of gold. "You can get the boy, as long as he stays with you for . . . let's say, a year?" Dumbledore smiled.

"Wonderful! I'll bring him to Hogwarts tomorrow night around eleven." he said cheerfully, leaving the office, and the Minister, who was already counting the gold.

"You bought me? This can't be happening . . . you're kidding! You bought me?"

"I assure you, Severus, I had absolutely no choice. The only way to get you out of Azkaban was to buy you out. The Minister is a man who likes his money and I know that. It was the only way to get you out without revealing the contents of the prophecy to the Ministry."

It was eleven thirty the next night. Dumbledore and Snape were standing in Dumbledore's office, facing each other. Dumbledore with a concerned look on his face, Snape an angry scowl. _How dare he buy me! I'm not a thing to be sold, I'm a person! He has no right whatsoever to buy me! _"You didn't have to buy me," he said coldly. "You could have left me in Azkaban."

"Anything is better than Azkaban, Severus, you said so yourself when you told me the interpretation of the prophecy. Tonight I am having an Order meeting to alert Lily and James Potter of the prophecy and they and their son will go into hiding as soon as possible."

"I would rather be in Azkaban than be somebody's property. I'd much rather be a prisoner than a slave."

Dumbledore sighed. "I do not consider you my slave, Severus. When September comes around, you will take Professor Slughorn's place as Potions Master and you will be paid, a luxury slaves do not have. You have a debt to pay to me. I helped you and in return, you are to become my spy and one of my teachers."

"I have had no choice on this matter."

"Yes, you do. You do not have to be loyal to me, you could secretly return to the dark Lord and turn on me. You could, instead of being my spy, be his spy and run away from Hogwarts at your leisure. And you had the choice of telling me how Voldemort interpreted the prophecy. If you do not wish to do this, then why did you choose to? Was there a reason?"

"If there was a reason, I wouldn't tell you," he sneered at the Headmaster, who rolled his eyes and smiled.

"Suit yourself, Severus. You are going to remain at Hogwarts until August as a guest and then you will begin your stay here as a teacher."

Snape sighed angrily. "Is that all? May I go and sulk on my own now?"

"Not quite yet." said Dumbledore. "There is another thing. Because you are now a spy for the Order of the Phoenix, it is only fitting you become a member."

Snape looked shocked. "A member of the Order _and _the Death Eaters? That's unheard of!"

"Until now," said Dumbledore with a smile. "You are clever enough to think of an explanation of why I know the contents of the prophecy and why you are a member of the Order. You are an Occlumens?" Snape nodded. "Very good. I have complete faith in you. I think you can easily fool Lord Voldemort."

Snape sighed again. "Fool the Dark Lord, become a member of the Order, these things, they seem impossible."

"But they aren't. Not for you, anyway. Have faith in yourself."

Snape looked up at him. "We'll see if faith can beat skill."

"Very well, Severus, Filch will show you where you'll be staying for now. I'd also be extremely happy if you could meet me here at nine. I would like it if you would attend the Order meeting with Minerva, Hagrid and I tonight."

Snape walked towards the door. The he turned. "I don't have a choice, do I?"

Dumbledore smiled. "None whatsoever."

Snape rolled his eyes and left the room.

Minerva, Hagrid and Dumbledore sat waiting in Dumbledore's office at eight fifty-seven, waiting for Severus to arrive. The whole time they had been sitting there (which was for ten minutes) they hadn't spoken a word except for when Dumbledore explained that Snape was coming to the meeting and that he would explain the rest later. Except for a few growls from Hagrid, that was all that was said. Finally, Minerva spoke:

"Oh Albus, do you really think he ought to come to the meeting tonight?" she said nervously. "He isn't even a member yet, and besides, the Order is filled with people he absolutely despises! Why should you make him come?"

"Because he ought to hear the conversation. He was the one who told Lord Voldemort the prophecy and can tell us exactly what Voldemort is planning. It is essential that he go tonight and to every Order meeting from now on."

"Professor Dumbledore, sir, yeh can't let Snape go to the meetin' ternight." said Hagrid. "It's like Minerva said, he don't know anythin' 'bout the Order 'cept we go against You-Know-Who!"

"My point exactly, Hagrid. It'd be good for him to go to a few meetings before his induction. It'll get him used to the atmosphere and the way we operate."

The clock chimed nine o'clock. "Albus, if he doesn't come in five minutes, we'll have to go without him." said Minerva. "You can't be late for an Order meeting."

It was at that moment that there was a knock on the door. Dumbledore smiled and said, "Enter," and Snape came into the room, a scowl on his face. "It looks like I won't be."

**A/N: How was it? Too short? I think so. Next chapter's the Order meeting, which will be nice and long! Did this end the cliff-hanger? I hope so! Next update, maybe Friday, maybe next week. Review!**


	5. The Meeting

**A/N: Sorry last chapter had some typos; I forgot the line that divides each section. I actually didn't forget, but the line just didn't show up when I updated. If you had trouble figuring it out review or PM me and I'll help you out! Here's the nice long meeting chapter, as promised. I'm going to update for this story once a week all through the summer, so we'll see how that goes. Exams are done (I cannot press that enough!) and when summer vacation rolls around for real, I'll make sure the good weather, social events, and going on vacation don't stop me too hard. Enjoy!**

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter; it belongs to JKR and WB.**_

**This chapter's dedicated to ThySilverDoe, an amazing author!**

Lily walked into the bathroom, yawning. It had been such a long day. Being a mother was such hard work! 10 month old Harry was _such _a handful lately, always in need of a band-aid from the latest bump or bruise he got from falling or colliding with a table, needing his diaper changed _just _as he was put down to nap, always wanting to eat just as Lily had gone to bed. But it didn't matter, he was the most wonderful, adorable, sweet baby on the planet and she loved being his mother. It just tired her so.

_Another Order meeting tonight . . . _she thought. She turned on the faucet and through water on her face. The water was ice cold and it woke her up. She grabbed her make-up bag and put on her moisturizer, some lip-gloss, a little blush and a tiny bit of eye shadow to hide the circles under her eyes. She looked at herself in the mirror and grabbed a brush and brushed her flaming red hair, wondering if she should put on a bit of eyeliner as well. She put the brush down, decided she looked fine and walked back into her bedroom to change from her old jeans (which were covered in baby food) and into her nice black ones. Her dark blue shirt looked nice and clean. She sighed and sat on the bed.

She was always wondering about Severus now. What was he doing in Azkaban? Was he sleeping, having nightmares? Was he awake, thinking awful thoughts? Was he eating? Was he crying? She hadn't visited him for a few weeks because she had been so busy with Harry, but she saw him at his trial and he looked awful. He was tired and pale and thinner than ever. He looked almost heartbroken when the read his sentence. There was a glint in his eyes, a sad, pained look. He would never be free, never. It pained her that she may never see him again, even though it was his fault for joining the Death Eaters and for committing all those crimes. But he was only 21 and he was already in Azkaban for a lifetime. It was tragic.

She decided that thinking about him wouldn't do her any good now. She couldn't start crying, she'd ruin her make-up and then she'd be late for the meeting. The clock read eight fifty and she sighed and decided to walk out into the sitting room and wait for everybody to arrive. The Order's headquarters were at Lily and James's flat in London. Sometimes Lily felt so important that her house was an importance to the Order, but not tonight. Tonight she wished she didn't have to clean her house at eleven at night when everybody was gone. _For my birthday, I want a house-elf, _she thought. She threw on a white sweater and walked into the sitting room.

Sirius, Remus, and Peter were already there, sitting with James at the kitchen table. It was cute picture, all four Marauders, all grown up. "I wish I had my camera right now!" she said happily. All four head turned to her and smiled.

"Hi Lily," said Sirius. "How's Harry?"

"Better than ever," she said smiling, hugging him. " Hi Peter."

"Hello, Lily," said Peter simply, receiving her hug.

"Hi, Lily,"

"Hi, Remus," she said hugging him. "You look a bit ill. Are you all right?"

"Full moon was just a few nights ago," he explained.

"Oh, I see." she said. "Well, let's go to the sitting room and wait for everybody else." So the five of them walked out of the kitchen, Lily switching off the lights.

They all sat down in the sitting room waiting for everybody to come. One by one, people began to come out of the fire. Frank and Alice Longbottom arrived first, then Molly and Arthur Weasley, then Mad-Eye Moody, then Kingsley Shacklebolt. Slowly the sitting room became crowded. Finally, a few minutes before nine, James said. "OK, does anybody know where Dumbledore is? He's never late."

"He isn't late James, it's not even nine!" said Sirius.

"But he's usually here before everyone else." said Lily, a touch of concern in her voice.

"Minerva isn't here either," said Mad-Eye.

"Nor is Hagrid," said Peter.

"They usually come together," said Remus.

The clock chimed nine and a few more people came. Finally, the fire glowed green and Dumbledore came in through the fire. "Dumbledore, you're here!" said James.

"He's been worried sick over you!" said Sirius in a mock of a woman's voice. A few chuckles were heard around the room.

The fire glowed again and Hagrid stumbled in. "Hello, Hagrid!" said Lily and Hagrid nodded and smiled, sitting in the largest chair.

The fire glowed again and Minerva came in. "Minerva, is he coming?" asked Dumbledore.

"Yes, he's coming in a few seconds." she replied. "He's already got the Floo Powder." The fire glowed again and this, the entire room grew quiet, a few gasps coming from some people's voices.

"Snape?" said Sirius loudly.

"What the hell are you doing in my house?" shouted James.

"He probably got lost. The Death Eater meeting's in the next house, Snivelly!" said Sirius, he and James going into a fit of laughter.

"Don't worry, Snivellus, I'm sure Voldemort isn't too worried about you. Matter of fact, who would be?" asked James.

"How lovely to see how much you've matured, Potter," said Snape. "And look at you, Black, finally acting your age."

"I think people my age get into a lot of FIGHTS don't they?" shouted Sirius, growling.

"Mad people do," said Snape, getting louder.

"Oh that's really smart, Snivelly! Real smart! _Expelliarmus!" _shouted James. Snape flicked his wand, blocking the spell easily. James looked at Sirius.

"Looks as though your skills have matured as much as your behavior, Potter."

"Gentlemen," said Dumbledore quietly. "If the three of you would please just sit down so we can explain what's going on." The three men, turned to look at Dumbledore wands still pointed at each other.

"I'm not sitting until I know what HE's doing in MY house!" said James. "And I'd love to know why he isn't in Azkaban where he belongs!"

"Me too!" said Sirius. "He's a freakin' murderer!"

"James, Severus, Sirius, I would like it very much if all of you would just lower your wands." The three men looked at each other, and then slowly lowered their wands. Then Sirius whipped his out again and pointed it to Snape, quickly saying, _"Petrificous Totalous!" _Snape was too quick for him and blocked the spell again.

"Sirius, I wouldn't want to have to take away your wand. Lower them now." he said sternly. The three of them, reluctantly, put their wands away. "Good. Now, James, Sirius, sit down." The two men walked over to their seats, shooting dirty looks at Snape as they went. "Severus, there's a chair over there, you can be seated as well."

James stared at Snape angrily as Snape walked over to the chair at the other end of the room. All eyes were on Snape. Dumbledore coughed and the Order members looked back at him, shooting occasional looks at Snape.

Lily had been staring at him from the moment he came in. He was out of prison. He was in her house. He was sitting next to her. But why? How? What had he done? Why was he with Dumbledore? She felt dizzy all of sudden.

"Very well then, is everybody present?" People nodded and muttered, "Yes." Dumbledore nodded as well. "Good. Now, it is obvious that something is going on around here. There has been a certain situation occurring for quite sometime now. It has not been necessary to explain this situation you until now." He took a deep breath and began his tale.

"A few months back, Sybil Trelawney, a seer, applied for the Divination post at Hogwarts. I was to meet her at the Hog's Head for an interview. She chose the Hog's Head because she was low on money and it was a cheap stay.

"Severus Snape was also staying at the Hog's Head at that time while waiting for his house to be renovated. But there was another reason. Lord Voldemort had told him that many things could be heard at the Hog's Head. But I doubt Severus ever _dreamed _he would hear something so amazingly valuable to his master." Eyes turned towards Severus, who didn't meet their glances.

"That day, while I was interviewing Sybil Trelawney, she gave a prophecy. Of course, as you all would imagine, I was very surprised. I was even more surprised by the contents of the prophecy. I was most surprised, though, when the bar tender at the Hog's Head opened the door, revealing that Severus Snape had been eavesdropping at my door-"

"See what a piece of filth he is?" whispered James loudly to Sirius and Sirius nodded and they both smiled. Snape rolled his eyes.

"As I was saying, of course, I couldn't stop him from telling his master about the prophecy-"

"Could've killed him, would've made us all happier, you know." said Sirius softly. James gave a small laugh.

"- And I had no desire to murder." said Dumbledore loudly, giving James and Sirius a look. "Of course, Severus was already in Voldemort's tight circle and by telling him the prophecy, he was making himself Lord Voldemort's favorite.

"About two months ago, as you all know, Severus was arrested. I interrogated him myself at Azkaban and he revealed to me a certain bit of information that is extremely valuable to the Order." he paused. "This bit of information was how Voldemort interpreted the prophecy."

"But Dumbledore," said Arthur. "We don't even know what the prophecy was!" There was a murmur of agreement and Dumbledore nodded. Peter stood up and walked out of the room.

"The prophecy said that a boy, born as the seventh month dies, born to parents who have defied the Dark Lord thrice, will be the one with the power to defeat the Dark Lord. The boy will have power the Dark Lord knows not. This boy will be marked by the Dark Lord as his equal and neither can live while the other survives." He paused to let the Order digest what they had just heard.

"A boy . . . a baby, defeat the Dark Lord?" asked Molly.

"But how?" asked Remus.

"I haven't a clue. Now, Voldemort and I have both, separately, studied the prophecy. Thankfully, Voldemort only knows that the boy will be born at the end of July to parents who have defied him thrice."

"You mean Snape didn't hear the whole prophecy?" asked Frank Longbottom.

"Obviously," said Snape coldly.

"Well, stupid to tell him now, he's just going to tell You-Know-Who!" said Sirius. "How do we know he's on our side, Dumbledore?"

"Tell me, Sirius, do you trust me?"

Sirius looked a bit shocked at the question. "Yes, of course!"

"Do you trust my judgment?"

"Yes!"

"Then, in trusting me, you trust Severus. The reason that Severus has converted from Dark to Light is between us. It is his choice and his choice alone if he wishes to tell you."

Sirius opened his mouth in protest, and then shut it.

"As I was saying, we have an advantage. We know the whole prophecy, and he does not. That doesn't matter. What matters is that we protect the baby and the baby's family from the doings of Voldemort."

"Who does Voldemort think the prophecy refers to?" asked James. Dumbledore sighed. "Voldemort narrowed it down to two families. One was . . . Frank and Alice Longbottom, and their son Neville, who was born on July 30th." A few gasps were heard around the room and Snape buried his face in his hands. Lily looked at him, concerned. "This other family was . . . Lily and James Potter, and their son, Harry, who was born on July 31st." More gasps and Lily looked at James, scared. _Us? Us? _James sighed bravely and looked at Dumbledore.

"But Dumbledore, which family is it? Which family does Voldemort think it is?" he asked. Dumbledore, looking sober, looked around the room, and saw Snape.

"Why don't you tell us, Severus?" said Dumbledore. Snape looked up, nearly crying. Everybody looked at him and he stared at Dumbledore angrily, biting his lip. "Go on, Severus. Longbottoms or Potters?" Snape glanced at Lily for the first time. She was staring at him scared. Snape hated himself so much, that his mistake- his selfish mistake- was making her scared and in fear and in . . . danger, peril- _mortal_ peril. Snape gave Dumbledore a dirty look, then sighed and said:

"He thinks it's the Potters."

He said it in a cold, sad way, like he actually had feelings besides anger. Lily looked at James with fear. Snape buried his face in his hands again. People were gasping and whispering and saying, _"Oh no!" _James looked at Snape angrily. Lily was crying softly into her hands. It was awkward and sad.

"This means, of course, that the Potters will have to take Harry and go into hiding. Do we have any ideas on where and what would be the safest option?" asked Dumbledore. People were sniffling and crying. Finally, Sirius said:

"Hogwarts?"

"There are students there with Death Eater parents. If word were to get out, they would write to their parents and You-Know-Who would find a way to enter Hogwarts and attack." said Minerva.

"What about the Forbidden Forest?" asked Remus.

"Yeh wouldn't want ter hide up there!" said Hagrid in his booming voice. "It'd be bad fer Harry."

"Voldemort would probably look there." said Alice.

"Any other options?" asked Dumbledore.

"The Fidelius Charm."

Everybody looked at Snape. Snape spoke it as though not a question or a recommendation, but as if _this _was what they should do. Dumbledore tilted his head curiously. "That is actually not a bad idea."

"What the hell is a Fidelius Charm?" asked Sirius.

"Explain, Severus," said Dumbledore.

Snape sighed. "The Fidelius Charm, Black, is a spell involving the magical concealment of a secret in a person. You choose the person, or Secret-Keeper. The information is hidden in the Secret-Keeper and the information is impossible to find or hear, unless, the Secret-Keeper decides to reveal the information. As long as the Secret-Keeper doesn't tell anybody, the Dark Lord could search every inch of this Earth and _never _find a trace if the Potters."

There was silence after the explanation. Finally, Arthur asked. "Suppose the Secret-Keeper told a certain someone. Could that someone tell someone else?"

"No, only the Secret-Keeper can tell the secret."

"I like it," said Lily, wiping her eyes, sniffling. "It sounds full-proof."

"But it isn't," Snape said to her. "Unfortunately, nothing is, in reality. If you don't use the charm, the Dark Lord will find you eventually. But if you use the charm, the person you place your trust in decides your fate. If you choose a Secret-Keeper that you may think is trustworthy, they might turn on you and tell the Dark Lord for money or power."

"It's true," said Dumbledore. He knew that for a year, _somebody _had been giving Voldemort information. But who was it?

"So your saying it's a lose-or-lose situation?" said Lily looking at Snape, her eyes swelling up tears again.

"It doesn't have to be, if you choose a trustworthy Secret-Keeper. Choices can make good and terrible things happen." They looked into each other's eyes.

"But our Secret-Keeper won't rat on us!" said James, breaking the silence and the stare.

"James, we haven't even decided where we're going!" said Lily.

"But I know who we're going to pick! If he agrees." He smiled and stood up. "I want Sirius to be our Secret-Keeper!"

"James," said Dumbledore calmly. "You must relax. We need to think this over. Before we perform the charm, we need to think a while before choosing a Secret-Keeper."

"I insist Dumbledore!" James protested. "We can think it over, but Sirius would rather die than turn us in to Voldemort!" Sirius nodded and James sat down next to him, smiling.

"We'll have a private meeting later," said Dumbledore. "Now, is there-"

"Dumbledore?"

"Yes, Lily?"

Lily sniffled and rubbed her eyes. "Well, it's just that . . . I have two concerns, Dumbledore."

"Yes?"

"Well, first of all, what about Alice and Frank? Shouldn't they be put under protection?"

Dumbledore smiled. Lily was always thinking of others. "If we find it necessary. We need to put you and James under protection first. We will be alerted if Voldemort is planning an attack on Frank and Alice."

"Very well. And the other thing is, what about Severus?"

Snape looked at Lily confused. "What about Severus?" asked Dumbledore.

"Well, won't Voldemort find out that he told us about the plan to go after me and James?"

"Perhaps," said Dumbledore. "But that is none of your concern." Lily looked upset. "Now, is there anything else we ought to mention?" There was a dead silence. "Very well then. The meeting is closed."

People began to stand up and merge towards the kitchen. Snape walked over to Dumbledore. "I'm leaving now," said Snape. "If there's anything else . . ."

"No," said Dumbledore. "But why don't you stay?"

"I have no desire to remain here any longer." said Snape softly.

"Oh Severus, just stay this once. If you come now, it'll be less awkward than if you decide to come in a few weeks."

"I doubt I'll stay after meetings any time in the near future."

"How about after the near future? Would you come then?"

"No."

Dumbledore sighed. "Very well, Severus." And he went into the kitchen.

Severus didn't want to stay and wait as the people went to the kitchen, staring at him and whispering as they went in. He walked towards the door and had his hand on the doorknob-

"Severus, where are you going?"

Snape turned to look at Lily. "It's none of your concern, Mrs.-" He wanted throw up. "Potter."

"Oh, Severus, stop being so formal!" she said, smiling walking towards him. "Besides, you don't have to be so cold. I was merely being curious. But anyway, why don't you stay?"

"Mrs. Potter, I've already received the 'why don't you stay?' talk from Dumbledore, I have no desire to hear it again."

"You don't have the desire to do anything lately, besides sulk and make sarcastic remarks!" she snapped. He raised an eyebrow.

"You wouldn't know," he said quietly. "You've been here with your perfect husband and your perfect son. I've been alone in Azkaban."

"Are you blaming me for your imprisonment?" she said loudly. "In case you forgot, you were the one who told me to arrest you!"

"I'm not blaming you for anything," he said calmly. "I'm just saying you have no right to criticize how I've been lately if you've been here in London and I've been on an island in the Arctic Ocean."

She sighed. "You're right. Where are you staying anyway?"

"Hogwarts," said Snape. "I'm staying there until June. Then I'm going back to Spinner's End until August."

"Where will you go after?"

"Back to Hogwarts. I'm going to teach."

"You teach?" she asked.

"Don't sound so surprised," he said.

She smiled. "I didn't mean you're not intelligent. It just surprised me. What position?" "Potions."

"Professor Severus Snape, Potions Master. It has a ring to it."

"I guess. Now if you'll excuse me, I really must be going-"

"No, Severus, don't go! I want you to see the house."

"I have no intentions of being taken on a tour of Potter's house," he said.

"But it's my house."

"Which makes it even more difficult," he muttered.

"What do you mean?"

"It's just hard to think that my . . . friend and my enemy live in the same house and have a child."

"But I'm happy here!"

"So I see. You seem to be the only care-free person in this war."

She smirked. "I have problems too! I'm dead tired every night! I'm a mother."

"I have problems too. I'll be dead tomorrow night because the Dark Lord will probably murder me. I'm a spy, not some parent whose biggest worry is catching a cold."

"Look, Severus, don't be jealous of what I've got!" she said angrily. He stared at her. He looked a bit hurt, but he was pissed off. She was implying he was some sort of charity case. That's what he'd always been, hadn't he? Not anymore, at least, not to Lily Potter.

"I can't think of anything in your life to be jealous of," said Snape sneering. "Living with Potter and his hideous look-alike, having a werewolf, a piece of vermin, and a mad man visit weekly, and now having to be cooped up in a house for the rest of your life, unless we defeat the Dark Lord, which, might I add, isn't going to happen anytime soon."

She gaped at him, hands on her hips, "Don't you dare mock Harry! You've never even met him yet!"

"Oh yes, I have to meet this amazing 11 month old to get to know him! Let him drool all over me and then I can decide where he lands on my chart! This infant who's going to defeat the Dark Lord! I can see the headlines now: Harry Potter: The Chosen One."

"And shut up about Peter, Remus and Sirius! You may dislike them because they mocked you at school, but what's the point mocking them back? Two wrongs don't make a right! And it happened at school! You should mature!"

"Oh, and your wonderful husband and his little gang have matured so greatly, haven't they? They don't mock people anymore, hm?"

"At least they decided to help people instead of torture them!"

"I guess I'm not considered a person to you," he said. "Not that you're considered a great importance to me."

"I'd love to know what I am to you!" she said furious.

"Oh just a stupid little girl who ran away and married some juvenile delinquent when she was eighteen. Just an annoying, interfering extra who pretends to care, but that mask comes off when she's angry. Somebody who becomes friends with werewolves and charity cases so she can be called 'kind and sweet'. It must be amazing to get praise for things you don't deserve, unlike other people, who deserve praise and get mockery instead. I'd love to live a day in that life." These were all lies, but he didn't care. He was so angry with Lily right now, the truth didn't matter.

"I can't believe you're saying these things!" she said, hurt. "What has Voldemort done to you? This isn't the Severus I knew when I was ten. That Severus was nice, and caring, and fun to be with. This Severus isn't."

"No, the Severus you knew then was weak, and powerless, and a freakin' charity case. And this isn't the Lily I knew either. That Lily wasn't married to Potter and she wasn't always wearing the fake kindness and concern mask, she had it genuine. And by the way, the Dark Lord has done _nothing _to me. All he's changed about me is made a tattoo on my arm."

"Back to James again! Why can't you just take it that I love him?"

He smirked. He couldn't think of anything to say. He lost the fight. How he hated losing. "You're right," he blurted. "I can't take the truth. You went right and I went left. I made the mistake, you made the right choice. That's why you're here with a family and I'm crouching before the Dark Lord against my will." And with that, we swept out of the room, and out the door.

Lily opened the door and looked outside. "Sev?" she said softly. But there was no reply. _He must've Apparated. _She sighed and walked away from the door, shutting and locking it behind her. Then she joined the others in the kitchen.

**A/N: Too short still? Please tell me! So, how was that? I'd love to know! Please, please, please review! Next chapter, we go back in time with Sev and Voldie. After that, we'll go to present with Sev and Voldie! After that, it'll be back to James and Lily and Dumbledore and the whole gang! Next update between either tomorrow, Sunday, or Friday. I so need to work hard on this if I can finish by the end of summer. Also, I'm starting my 20 Summer one-shots, so I have to work on those. Thanks for reading!**


	6. The Plea

**A/N: Hey everybody! Guess what? I'm back with our next chapter! Lemme tell you what's happening behind the scenes of this story. I'm planning for there to be at least ten-fifteen chapters total, give or take. Then after that comes the sequel! I'd just throw the sequel into the story, but it's got a totally different plot. So when this is finishing, you'll start to get signs of what the sequel's gonna be! This chapter may be short, but all my flashbacks are. So here we go, our trip to the past with STS and TMR AKA LV (I love letters!)**

**This chapter's dedicated to SeverusSnape19 for giving me inspirations on Snape torture. Thanks for helping me recover from writer's block!**

_**FLASHBACK:**_

"Have none of you brought me a scrap of news?" demanded Voldemort, pushing a bruised Rockwood away. Nobody moved. "Mulciber! Center of the circle! NOW!" Mulciber slowly pushed his way out of his place in the circle and knelt in front of Voldemort, head bowed.

"My Lord," he murmured, shaking with nervousness.

"I told you to confund Frank Longbottom at the Ministry. Did you succeed?"

"My Lord-" Mulciber began to explain.

"Did you or did you not successfully confund Longbottom?"

"N-n-no, my Lord." said Mulciber, cowering.

"You fool!" Voldemort roared. _"Crucio! Crucio! Crucio!" _Mulciber screamed and rolled around on the floor, cringing and making yanking movements. "Get up you swine," said Voldemort cruelly. "Go back to your place." Mulciber, shakily, got to his feet and stumbled towards his spot. "Lucius, center, now." Lucius strode to the center of the circle. He knelt.

"My Lord." he said with confidence.

"Lucius, did you manage to have the ten Muggles to be brought here? Some of our number needs a little target practice."

"I did, indeed, my Lord." said Lucius, shaking with happiness.

Voldemort smiled. After a long, tiring day of failed expectations, finally somebody doing something right felt wonderful. "And did you make sure it's the same as always? Three men, three women, two boys and two girls?" asked Voldemort excitedly

"Well, my Lord," started Lucius, being to get nervous. "I, er, I have the three women and the two boys, but, er, there's going to be two men arriving and three girls."

Voldemort infuriated. _"Crucio! _Can't any of you pieces of filth do anything right?" He kicked Lucius and grabbed him by the scruff. Lucius stood up and went back to his place. Then Voldemort smiled. "How about my little favorite, hm? Severus, center of the circle, please." He said this in a less demanding tone. Snape pushed his way to the center of the circle and knelt down before his master.

"My Lord," he said modestly.

"Severus," he said. "Tell me, did you manage to kill Isabella McGuire?" Isabella McGuire was a member of the Wizengamot Voldemort wanted removed from the planet for his own reasons. He had told Severus to go to her house and kill her.

"Yes, my Lord," said Severus, surprising the others. Severus hadn't been the one to usually succeed in killing. They knew that. Voldemort knew that. He raised an eyebrow.

"Look at me, Severus," he said. He slipped two of his fingers under Snape's chin and lifted his head to look at him. They stared into each other's eyes until Voldemort smiled. "Well done, Severus! Wonderful!" he said, scanning the crowd of Death Eaters, staring enviously at Snape. "You see, all you pieces of vermin. Severus is younger than all of you and he never fails to do what I ask of him. And if he does, he takes his punishment, he doesn't cry and scream like the rest of you!" Voldemort laughed. "Very well, all of you, go and do everything right this time!" he threatened. The Death Eaters all bowed and left the room. Severus stood up, but he didn't leave.

He didn't know why he gave his utmost devotion to the Dark Lord. He was cruel, vial, evil, horrific. He made Severus kill, steal, and torture. He remembered feeling awful, hiding in Isabella McGuire's hall closet. He watched the pretty lady with blonde hair come out of the kitchen with her tea, walking to the sitting room. She had been wearing black pants and a white sweater, her shoes were off. She had just past by the closet when he jumped out, wand pointed at her. She jumped, gasped, and dropped the hot tea on the carpet. Cursing, shaking, she turned around to look at him, and screamed.

Snape had narrowed his eyes, and then widened them again. He couldn't kill her. He had already killed a three-year-old girl, an old man, and a bar tender. He was already a murderer. He couldn't do it again. He stared at her, thinking of what his master would say if he killed her. He was already a favorite, he had told the Dark Lord the prophecy, and obeyed nearly everything. He would be praised. How he loved being praised.

But then he thought, what would the Dark Lord do if he didn't kill her? He'd be punished, of course. He didn't like being punished. Besides, when this lady was dead, she'd go to heaven. Then everybody would be happy. Of course!

Shakily, he said, _"Avada Kedavra!" _With a shout the lady fell to the floor. Snape looked down at the lifeless body. _Serves her right for mocking me! _He thought, giving her a kick. He walked into her kitchen, threw the kettle of tea onto the floor and walked out the back door. He put the Dark Mark over the house and left, feeling horrible.

And yet, even though he was being forced to do evil, he still obeyed whole-heartedly. It was because he loved this feeling, the feeling of being favored, adored, and praised. It was something wonderful, something he never really felt before. But the Dark Lord was going after the Potters. He had to get Lily out this mess alive. No matter what, she had to live. She just had to.

Voldemort turned, noticing that Severus had not yet left. "Is there something you want, Severus?" he asked, his voice bouncing off the walls of the dark, large room. Voldemort walked near the young man.

"Well, my Lord, there is . . . er, something." said Severus, feeling a bit nervous.

Voldemort smiled. "Anything you wish," he said in a whispery tone. "I give you this luxury because you have helped me greatly. A prophecy which decides my fate is very valuable indeed." Voldemort causally sat back on his throne-like chair. "So," he began again. "What is it you want?"

"It's . . . about the prophecy. The Potters, I mean."

"Yes?"

"It's just . . . I was only curious, my Lord, but are you intending to kill them all?"

"Of course!" said Voldemort. "If I am to kill the son I am to kill the mother and father! If I do not, they may rise against me, bringing in new forces to the Order. The vengeance they will have against me is too great." Voldemort looked at him curiously. "Why do you ask?"

"I was merely thinking, my Lord, is it necessary to kill both the mother and the father? Couldn't it be possible to only kill the father and the son, but let the mother live?"

Voldemort stared at him, and Snape looked to the ground. "Why would you want the mother to live? What meaning does that family have to you?"

"The family has no meaning all, my Lord. But it's only that . . . the mother will do nothing to you, my Lord. She is powerless."

Voldemort smiled. "Oh, Severus, am I to be correct in thinking you have . . . ah, _feelings _for this Potter woman? It would be ideal if her husband and son died. Then she'd be all for you."

"No!" Snape protested. "I mean, it was just a school boy fancy, my Lord. She was just my friend, nothing more, really."

"So you're asking that I spare the life of this," he coughed. "_Friend, _but let the husband and child die?"

"Yes, my Lord," he said, pleadingly.

Voldemort sat thinking. "This is quite a request. I don't know. Perhaps I'll grant this wish of yours. I must think it over."

Snape wanted to choke him. "Yes, my Lord." he mumbled. He turned around and left the room; furious, deciding he needed more help, better help. But who would help him, he was a wanted Death Eater. He decided to think it over.

He Apparated to his house. He had been wanted for a month now, after that murder in Diagon Alley where he'd burnt down a small pub and killed the old man and bar tender. He remembered it clearly; all the Death Eaters came flying in their black clouds of smoke, commanded to attack a single dwelling. The older Death Eaters went after large buildings. He might be younger than they were, but he was much cleverer. If they single-handedly attacked a large building filled of people, they could be attacked. So he chose a small pub, killed the bar tender and the old man and burnt it to the ground. Then he began shouting _"Crucio!" _at anybody who tried coming near. He felt so empowered, watching the people who tried to fight him collapse in pain. He didn't laugh. It didn't give him happiness, just power. Power wasn't happiness, he had then learned. Unfortunately, a group of Aurors had just arrived where he had attacked and saw him just before he vanished.

He sat down on his couch, thinking. The only person he could think of that might help him and give him mercy would be Dumbledore. He would tell Dumbledore that the Dark Lord was planning on killing Lily and that he was sorry he had done all that wrong and he'd make up for it in anyway he could, as long as Lily was safe. He would accept anything, any punishment, any position, anything, as long as Lily would live. That was all that mattered.

He sighed and looked over his bookshelf, bored. Then he heard a bang at the door.

The Aurors had arrived.

**A/N: I KNOW that was mad short, but my flashbacks are. Anyway, please review! Let me know how to improve! I don't know if I got Voldemort's character on target, but oh well. Next chapter, back to the present and Snape needs to explain to Voldemort how the Potters found out they needed to hide and why he was chillin' with Dumbledore at Hogwarts when he was supposed to be in Azkaban. I doubt it'll be as long as the last chapter, but not as short as this one! Next update . . . hm . . . let's say anywhere before June 10. I wanna have a good amount of time to make a nice chapter. This one, I think I rushed it. Chapter after next, we'll go back to the Order and see how they're doing. I have a WONDERFUL flashback coming up who knows when! Thanks for reading!**


	7. The Spy

**A/N: I am so sorry the last chapter was awful! It isn't my fault, I suck at Voldemort! I need to practice more Voldemort writing. I know, both of my Flashbacks are bad now, because they're Voldie flashbacks. Hope this chapter's better, I took a much longer time with this one. I won't repost the last one though, I want to ashamed of my bad chapter! :)**

**This chapter's dedicated to SeverusSnape19 again, who can write Voldemort perfectly!**

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. It belongs to JKR and WB.**_

Snape leaned against the windowsill, staring out into the night. Darkness covered the grounds of Hogwarts. He could see nothing. Even after his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he couldn't see anything. He sighed. It had been a whole week since his first Order meeting and since then, there had been three more meetings, including the one tonight. He had left as quickly as possible. He didn't want to speak to Dumbledore, or the Three Musketeers and their rat, or anybody else. Especially not Lily.

She was such a brat! He gave his all for her. He begged to the Dark Lord to spare her life, he went to prison so she could be famous, he was beaten and chained to a wall so she could get money, he became Dumbledore's slave because she had just let him rot in Azkaban instead of defending him in court and getting embarrassed. It was all her fault! He was doing everything he could for her and all those things brought pain. And of course, all she could say was, "You should mature," and "Don't be jealous." She was supposedly "sorry" for having him nearly die in a cell in Azkaban, but she just couldn't forgive him for calling her a Mudblood. He thought at one point that he loved her, but he knew now he was wrong. Let her make love with Potter. He didn't care.

He was beginning to worry, but he kept it inside. He spoke of his worry to no one, showed no facial expression about it, not even when he was alone. But he was scared. The next time the Mark burned, he would have to go. He would have to tell the Dark Lord why he wasn't in prison and why he was with Dumbledore. He would have to tell him about him being in the Order and he would have to give information. It might mean death for him. It might mean life. It might mean torture. It might mean praise. It might mean imprisonment. At first, Snape had been worried he might have to tell Voldemort that the Potters knew they had to hide. But now, he only cared about himself. Let the Potters go to hell. He couldn't care less.

Three dots of light appeared in the darkness. They formed a triangle. Snape stared at them. What were they? He watched them closely. The lights didn't move. In a few seconds, more light came from the dots and you could see the surroundings. The yellowish light was coming from Hagrid's hut. That meant Hagrid was back. If Hagrid was back, that meant McGongall and Dumbledore were back. It was about time they returned. He had left the meeting an hour ago. How long did it take to eat a cake in the kitchen and say, "That was great" and leave? Not an hour. On his watch, no time at all. The meeting had been telling everybody the Potters were going into hiding and this meeting would be there second to last. Their final meeting would be tomorrow and they would leave tomorrow night for their new home. Dumbledore didn't give details, like who was the Secret-Keeper (though, they all knew it was Black) or where they were going. As far as he knew, only Potter, Black, Lily, Lupin, Wormtail, and Dumbledore knew. It was, he had to admit, a safe circle.

He looked at the clock on is wall. It was nearly midnight. Bored, he looked around his room. It was two rooms actually; His bedroom and a bathroom. The bedroom was small and simple. It had a bed, a table, a chair, a dresser, and a closet. He didn't have much with him because Dumbledore managed to have his clothes, a few books, and a few others things brought from Spinner's End, leaving behind almost everything else. But it didn't matter. He would go back to his home in the summer and get all his stuff.

There was a knock on his door. "Enter," he said. Minerva walked in.

"Hello, Severus." she said smiling. She was always smiling at him lately. It annoyed him, because this was a new thing for her. She had never smiled at him like this before. When he was a student, she seldom smiled. "How are you? You left the meeting the second it was over."

"I rarely enjoy social gatherings," he muttered. "Especially ones with Potter and Black."

"I don't blame you. I wouldn't like to sit in the kitchen of my enemy and eat his food. Still, you should stay once in a while. Just to be a bit courteous, you understand."

"I have absolutely no intention whatsoever to be even the slightest bit courteous towards Potter." Then he paused. "Nor any of his family."

"Not even Lily Potter?"

"Why her?"

"Well, you know, she's always been so nice to you and when you were at school-"

"Keywords, Minerva. _At school. _Not now."

Minerva raised a brow. "Did you two quarrel?"

"I haven't spoken to Mrs. Potter in private since I left Azkaban. Even if I did, it's no concern of yours."

"I think you did," she said. "She's seemed a bit down since your first meeting."

"Perhaps it's because I showed up."

Minerva gave a sad smile. "Don't think of yourself in that manner!"

"I can think of myself in anyway I choose."

She sighed. "Very well. Do what you please." She stood up. "Oh, and by the way, Professor Dumbledore wants to see you tomorrow morning in his office at ten."

Snape nodded. "Fine."

She rolled her eyes and left the room.

That's how everybody was.

They would try and make him feel better and happy.

They would try to understand him,

They would try to change him.

And he would fight.

He would say no, that he wouldn't change, that is was none of their business.

They would try again.

Then they would give up.

That's why he ended up a Death Eater. He didn't have anything left, nothing to live for. He was turning into the Dark side and nobody bothered to save him. And even if they tried, they'd just give up and he gave in.

Even Lily gave in, in the end.

Now she was just too stubborn to say sorry for destroying his life, because he said one word. She was even too stubborn to forgive him when he said sorry. And everybody else called her nice.

It sort of burned him, inside.

Then he felt the burning on the outside.

He rolled down his left sleeve and stared at his left forearm. He stood up and rolled the sleeve down. He left his room and walked towards Dumbledore's office.

_The Mark burns . . ._

He walked up to the gargoyle. "Butterbeer," he said quickly. The gargoyle moved.

_He's calling . . ._

He knocked on the door. "Enter," came Dumbledore's voice. Snape pushed the door open and entered the room. "Severus!" said Dumbledore, a bit surprised. He had been at his desk, reading something. "I hadn't expected any late night calls from you. I . . . er . . . wasn't expecting you until tomorrow morning."

"Professor, he calls."

The twinkle from Dumbledore's light blue eyes disappeared and a cloud of concern formed in them. "Well, Severus, are you prepared?"

"There's no way to be prepared to trick the Dark Lord," said Snape, trying to stop himself from shaking. He succeeded.

Dumbledore nodded. "Very well, then. Let's watch you go do the impossible and live through it." Snape nodded. "Good luck." he said.

Without another word, Snape walked out the office, down the stairs and out to the grounds of Hogwarts, out past the gates of the school grounds, where he Apparated.

#############################

Voldemort sat on his throne-like chair, watching as Death Eaters slowly arrived. It was the usual crowd. They would walk in, kneel before him, and then go stand in the circle. He waited a few minutes. Finally, he began to speak.

"I hope we have all completed our tasks this time around," Voldemort began quietly. He was about to continue when the doors opened again and Severus Snape appeared. Voldemort forced a smile. "Ah, Severus, so glad you could find time to join us. Please, center of the circle." Snape walked across the room towards Voldemort, not looking at anybody. He pushed past the others and knelt down.

"My Lord," he muttered.

"Well, well, well, Severus, we have lots to talk about tonight, don't we?" he said, barely above a whisper. "I have some very interesting questions to ask you."

There was a pause.

"We have to catch up, correct? I haven't seen you in a few months."

Another pause.

"So let's start small, shall we? Why are you not in Azkaban?"

Snape didn't look at him. "Because Dumbledore got me out, my Lord."

"Dumbledore got you out! My, my!" He spoke in a voice of fake shock. "And what on earth did you tell Dumbledore that made him have you released?"

Snape didn't answer right away. Finally, he said, "I told him about the Potters, my Lord."

"I know you did," said Voldemort, his voice filled with contempt. "I have a wonderful little spy in the Order who told me this. Unfortunately, this spy actually _left _in the middle of the meeting to tell me, instead of waiting it out to hear more information. The idiot."

"But, my Lord-"

"I don't want to hear anything from you until I tell you to speak!" Voldemort hissed, his voice rising. Snape gave a quiet sigh.

"You are a traitor. Telling Dumbledore about the Potters just so you could get out of prison. You're a coward, you know that? An extreme coward."

"My Lord, I-"

"I told you to keep your mouth shut! _Crucio!"_

Pain shot through Snape as the spell hit him. He flinched and moved, trying not to scream or writhe. It was electrifying, as though his veins were wires and the pain was shooting through them.

"You turned on me. You're with the Order now? Why? Because I said I may not save the Mudblood you fancy? Because you needed a quick get out of prison? Because you were _scared?" _He spit. "Coward."

"My Lord, please, let me explain-"

"_Crucio! Crucio!" _Pain shot through his body again, double the hurt. It made him give a groan. It hurt so much! How he wanted to scream. But he would not give the man before him that satisfactory; he was much too strong to give in. "There's _nothing _to explain!" Voldemort shouted. He leaned back in his chair. "Now," he said sharply, but with less volume. "Why are you with the Order of the Phoenix?"

"My Lord, you must understand, I'm not a member of the Order."

Voldemort stifled a laugh. "You must think me _stupid, _Severus, to believe that after revealing important information to Dumbledore, attending Order meetings, and even planning with the Order, that you're not an Order member. _Crucio!" _He smiled as Snape twitched. "How pitiful. Severus, now tell me the truth. What are you doing with the Order?"

"My Lord, it's all a plan. I'm spying on them for you." He paused, not wanting to say anymore, hoping the Dark Lord would listen, hoping he would believe him. Voldemort leaned forward and everybody began to whisper. "Silence." said Voldemort and the room was quiet. Voldemort stood up. "Severus, I want you to look at me." Snape looked up at him. "You're doing all of this to spy for me?"

"Yes, my Lord," he lied. There was a pause.

"I didn't instruct you to do anything of the sort."

"It was the only way to rejoin you, my Lord." said Severus, innocently.

Voldemort stared into the black eyes for a long moment. Then he smiled. "Indeed. I've forgotten how clever you are in your absence. Perhaps you are telling the truth. Tell me, Severus, where are the Potters hiding?"

There was another pause. "I cannot tell you, my Lord. They are using the Fidelius Charm."

Voldemort grimaced. "Who's the Secret-Keeper?"

Snape would have loved to tell Voldemort and get Black killed, but knowing Dumbledore would be extremely upset with him, he said, "I do not know, my Lord All I know is that only Potter's close friends know their location."

Voldemort rubbed his chin and Snape hoped that _maybe _he would leave this place without further injury. He was already bruised. "Who knows their location?"

"Sirius Black-"

"Ah, yes, brother of Regulus. Sirius seemed to be the only bad egg in that family."

"Remus Lupin-"

"The werewolf?"

"Dumbledore, of course, and Peter Pettigrew."

"Wormtail? Wormtail? Wormtail knows? How interesting." He paced a bit, and then turned to the younger man. "When are they going into hiding?"

"Tomorrow night, my Lord, after the Order meeting."

"And you will inform me of the Order's doings for tomorrow's meeting?"

"Of course, my Lord," his words sounding genuine. Voldemort smiled.

"Well, well, I _am _surprised." He frowned. "A bit too surprised. This may be just a bail out from Azkaban. If it is-"

"My Lord," he plead.

"Hush. _Crucio!" _Voldemort said this calmly as though he was just placing the spell on the boy to keep the boy quiet and occupied. The only sound that was heard for the next five minutes was a groan. Finally, Voldemort said. "Do you swear to your own flesh and blood that you are spying for me and not for Albus Dumbledore, that you are not a member of the Light, but for the Dark, and that no matter how much time you spend with Dumbledore, that this will remain true?"

Snape gulped and said, "I do."

Voldemort smiled with satisfactory. "Get as close to Dumbledore as you can. Become his favorite. I know you are more than capable. Charm him, show him how clever and brave you are, but be modest. Don't show off. Make him feel sorry for you. Make him defend you when you make mistakes. Make him trust you."

Snape nodded and didn't speak.

"Gather as much information as you can and reveal it to me. If Dumbledore suspects, tell him that I demanded it of you. Tricking Dumbledore is easy if you play the cards right. Be helpless and in need of a second chance and he will help you. He will give you mercy. He will give you compassion. He thinks that people who have done bad things and want forgiveness ought to be forgiven. So show him you deserve it."

"Yes, my Lord." said Snape quietly.

"Very well. This is quite unheard of, you know, being the favorite of both the Dark and the Light. But in the end, true colors will be revealed. Think carefully about where you lay your loyalties. Keep them with me and when I win this war, you will win. Keep them with Dumbledore, and you'll fall with the old coot. Remember this."

**A/N; I know this sucked. I suck at Voldemort. Next chapter will be better, I promise! No Voldemort! No Voldemort! We won't have a guaranteed bad chapter until Chapter 16, when Voldemort returns. I think by the end we'll have 18 chapters. Review please! Tell me if it was good, bad, or awful! Next update any time between Friday and Monday. Thanks!**


	8. The Apology

**A/N: I hope this chapter is better, I really do. When Voldemort comes around, he just wrecks my writing. Like he wrecks everything else. Sigh. Anyway, here's the update, as promised.**

**This chapter is dedicated to **

"Thank you so much for setting all of this up, Dumbledore." said Lily happily. "You don't know how grateful we are."

Dumbledore smiled. "Don't thank me, Lily, I'm only doing what I must.

"And you're doing wonderfully," said James. "Who knows, maybe we'll survive this war after all!" Lily nodded and dabbed her eyes.

The three of them were sitting in the kitchen of Lily and James apartment. Harry was asleep and nobody had arrived yet. It was a perfect time to a have private conversation. And, according to Dumbledore, they needed one.

"So do you honestly think somebody's spying on us?" asked Lily, pouring tea into a cup and handing it to Dumbledore.

"Positive." he said.

"Any ideas?" asked James.

"Anybody who's close to you is a suspect." said Dumbledore, pouring milk into the tea.

"That's scary," said Lily. "Somebody close to us."

"I still think it's Snape." said James stubbornly, accepting is cup from Lily and taking the sugar.

"But he isn't close to us," said Lily, sadly. "What information does Voldemort know?"

"I don't know much yet." said Dumbledore, concern touching his voice. "Severus came back late last night, around 5 . . . maybe 6, in the morning. The boy nearly fainted on my couch, I couldn't interrogate him. He was soaking wet because he had to come back in the rain. And of course, he was bruised and cut a bit."

"Why? What happened to him?" asked Lily, concern in her eyes. James stared at her. She looked at him and blushed.

"Lord Voldemort is furious with Severus Snape right now. Severus is at Hogwarts, not in Azkaban. He's been attending Order meetings; He gave away some information from Dark to Light. Voldemort wants an explanation. Of course, Severus was ready to fool him, but Voldemort is impatient and angry. He probably punished Severus before he could even explain."

"How?" asked Lily.

"The Cruciatus Curse, most probably."

"That's awful," she said.

"Serves him right, though," James muttered. "It's his fault, he went over to the Dark side in the first place. It doesn't matter that he recruited. Once a Death eater, always a Death Eater."

"You sound like Alastor," said Dumbledore, smiling.

"And he's right. We shouldn't trust Snape."

"If you trust me, you trust him," said Dumbledore. "Anyway, he was asleep when I left the school. We'll ask him what happened during the meeting. And James, please, don't criticize. He might have had to give some of our information away to keep his cover."

"Why? That makes no sense!" James roared.

"It makes perfect sense if you think about it," said Lily. "Voldemort thinks he's spying for him. He wants information and Severus has to give away things that aren't too essential."

"Precisely. He hasn't been able to reveal much to me because he doesn't know enough. But what he has told me is suspicious and explains how Voldemort would know about where we are, when we're there."

"Does Severus know who the spy is?" asked Lily, sitting down,

"No," said Dumbledore. "Voldemort refers to him as 'my spy'."

"That sucks," said James.

"Indeed, it does," said Dumbledore, smiling. Dumbledore leaned back in his chair. "I worry for him though. He's much too young to be going through all this. So are you. This war is taking quite a toll on all of us."

"Don't worry about us Dumbledore, we'll be fine." said Lily. "We're going to be in a nice house. Severus has to . . . " She paused, remembering what he had said when they fought. "_That's why you're here with a family and I'm crouching before the Dark Lord against my will." _"Severus has to go to Voldemort when he doesn't want to."

James snorted. "Not my problem. He chose to join him in the first place. It's his fault."

"I know, I know, you already said that!" said Lily, raising her voice.

"And you don't agree?" asked James, a smile playing on his lips.

Lily shrugged, changing the subject. "So, Dumbledore, any individual suspects?"

Dumbledore took a sip of tea and said, "A few."

There was a pause.

"Well, spit them out!" said James, impatiently.

"James!" snapped Lily in a soft voice.

"I will tell you," said Dumbledore, slowly. "Under four conditions."

"What are they?" asked Lily.

"Number 1: Do not tell a soul about this."

"We won't," said James.

"Number 2: Do not think that I am only naming certain people for their past actions, or because I may not like them. These are suspects. I could be wrong."

There was another pause.

"OK," said Lily finally. She wondered whom Dumbledore disliked in the Order. She thought he enjoyed all of their company. And who had bad transactions? The only people she could think of were Severus and Hagrid. But Hagrid would _never _spy on them.

"Number 3: Do not tell the suspects I suspect them."

"Of course not," said James.

"And finally," said Dumbledore. "Even though you may think some of these people are your friends, there are a few cowards here who would betray their friends rather than die themselves. Do not judge me by it."

Lily and James exchanged glances. "All right," said James. "Who are your suspects?"

Dumbledore took a deep. "I have two." he said. "Number 1: Peter Pettigrew

"WHAT?" The two Potters shouted in unison.

"Peter!" said Lily.

"Are you crazy?" said James, breathing hard. "He's our friend! He would _never, ever, ever, _betray us!"

"James, relax, you just broke condition number 3," Lily whispered.

"What? Oh, sorry." he said to Dumbledore. "But still, why Peter? What's your basis?"

"Peter, I have noticed, leaves Order meeting exceptionally early. It seems the information Lord Voldemort knows, according to my studying, is information I reveal in the earlier parts of the meeting. I could be wrong, though. When I get more information, I'll be able to see whether or not Peter has been spying." There was a pause.

"But Dumbledore," said Lily. "You said you dislike the suspects."

"I didn't say that," said Dumbledore. "I said don't think I don't like the people I name suspect."

"And what about doing bad things in the past?" asked James. "Peter hasn't done anything wrong."

"I wasn't referring to Peter," said Dumbledore. "I was referring to Sirius Black."

Jams dropped his teacup on to the floor. Lily stared at him.

"What the bloody hell did you just say?"

Dumbledore looked at James. "I said Sirius Black is one of the suspects."

James grew red. He looked at Lily, who looked worried. Then he turned to Dumbledore.

"Listen, I have no idea why you would pick him as suspect, but let me make one thing clear: Sirius Black is my best friend and he would _never _betray us. Never." He said this in a fake calm, his tone filled with anger. Dumbledore raised an eyebrow.

"James, if you want to be safe, we have to look at all the angles. I'm not saying it's him, but we have to look at the facts. He's closer to you than _anybody _and the spy is somebody who's close to you."

"So? There are plenty of people close to us! It's not him!" Then he paused. "And he hasn't done anything bad!"

"Yes, he has," said Dumbledore, frowning. "Think about your school years, can you think of anything he did that might make me suspicious?"

There was a pause. Then James stared at Dumbledore. "_That was a joke!"_

Dumbledore shook his head. "I doubt it. Jokes are supposed to be funny, not tragic."

"You said you weren't choosing suspects because of their past actions!" James roared,

"I said I wasn't choosing them _only _because of their bad choices in the past. You must learn to listen more intently."

"That happened in the past, Dumbledore! It's over, done! Forget it! He isn't like that now, he's changed!" "I don't believe you have the right to speak of how people have changed, James. Didn't you just say that Severus Snape could never change and that what he did in the past was too great?"

There was an awkward silence. Finally James said, "That's different. Snape was a Death Eater, Sirius isn't."

"But they both murdered . . . well, at least, attempted to. It doesn't matter how awful the crimes are or how many are committed. If somebody has truly changed, you have to trust him or her. Sirius's attempt to murder was no better than Severus's success in murdering."

"THIS IS BULL!" shouted James. A wail came from the other room. Lily sighed.

"Now see what you've done? You've woken the baby!" She was about to stand up, when James pushed her down.

"I'll go put him to sleep." he said, standing up, eying Dumbledore as he left.

Lily looked at Dumbledore. "Are you two talking about when Sirius tried to kill Severus?"

Dumbledore nodded.

"Do you think either of them still think about it?" she asked.

"Severus more than Sirius," he said honestly. "Sirius found it funny, Severus found it terrifying. I feel terrible about it sometimes as well, more now then ever,"

"Why? What did you do?"

"I paid no attention to Severus when the incident happened," said Dumbledore, sadly. "I paid more attention to Sirius's punishment and James's reward that I had forgotten the boy who had stared death straight in the eye. I made it seem to him that I didn't care. It bothers me that, on his list of people who have rejected him and let him feel the pain alone, is my name. I actually contributed to the feeling that the only way he would be noticed and get praise was to join Lord Voldemort. It isn't entirely his fault, many other people helped. He deserves to be punished, of course, but he also deserves a second chance, something he's never really had."

There was a pause. "That's awful." she said quietly. Finally, after a few minutes, she said, "Dumbledore, can I talk to you about something?"

"Yes, of course." he said. "What is it?"

"Well," she said, pausing. She pointed her wand to the broken cup on the floor and it repaired itself. Then she waved her wand and all the cups disappeared. She pointed it at the liquid on the floor and it vanished as well. Then she turned to Dumbledore. "His first Order meeting, last week, we had a fight."

"Ah," said Dumbledore. "I see."

"And well, I said a lot of things I didn't mean. And now that you've told me all this stuff about Severus, I just wish I could take it back. I'm so sorry for it now, more sorry then I was after it happened. But, I'm afraid he won't forgive me."

"What did you say, exactly?" he asked, leaning forward.

"Well, we were just talking at first, and then I said I was going to show him the house and he said he wouldn't, because it was James's house as well. So I told him I was happy with James and he said I was so care-free and I told him I did have problems and he said they were small things and that he had to worry about dying, so I told him not be jealous of me."

"That must've . . .er . . . angered him." said Dumbledore.

"He got really upset. So he said he couldn't find anything to be jealous for and he starting talking crap about James and Sirius and even Harry. So I told him he didn't even know Harry and he said Harry was just another baby, not some amazing creature. And I said to grow up and he said that James and Sirius should grow up and I said that at least they didn't torture and he said that he wasn't considered anything to me because they supposedly torture him. And then-" She paused. "Then he told me what he really thought of me."

"What did he say?" asked Dumbledore, anxiously.

"He said I was some stupid girl who ran away and got married and had a baby with delinquent who pretends to be kind to everybody and gets praise for what she doesn't deserve. Then he said he would love to live that life because he deserved praise but didn't get it. I told him that he wasn't the Severus I knew and he said that the Severus I knew was weak and that the Lily he knew wasn't married to James Potter and I said asked him why he couldn't grow up and accept the truth. Then he gave in and said I was right and then he left."

Dumbledore sighed. "That was . . . quite a fight, but I think he said more to hurt you than vise-versa."

"But even though I said less, I said stuff that hurt more!" she said. "I feel terrible and I just want him to forgive me. I forgive him for what he said."

"I don't think you have the right to be forgiven." said Dumbledore calmly.

Lily blinked. "What? Why?"

"Well, how can you be forgiven if you don't forgive?" he asked.

"But I told you, I forgive him! And I'm going to tell him!"

"Not entirely. It seems that 5 years back, something happened, did it not? Something terrible, something that hurt you so much. Something he was sorry for. Can you think back and remember?"

_5 years back . . . ._

_ "I don't need help from filthy little Mudbloods like her!"_

"That?" she whispered. "What happened by that tree in fifth year?" Dumbledore nodded. "But that was awful! He called me a Mudblood in public after I defended him! ME! His best friend! I can't forgive that!"

"But he repented, did he not?" he asked. "He not only said sorry, but just recently, he let you capture him and throw him in prison and he was tortured there because he wanted to show you how sorry he was. And even after that, you can't forgive him?"

"But-"

"And do you honestly think he meant it? Perhaps there's some information about Severus you ought to know. He'll be furious with me once I tell you, but you may find it somewhere in your heart to forgive him. Severus wasn't just your friend during your Hogwarts years."

"No?" asked Lily.

"No. He fancied you deeply. He was obsessed with you, that's what he says. He thought you were pretty and funny and clever and he thought that was wonderful. I think he loved you.

"But did he say that?"

"Severus doesn't know when he feels love. He gets confused when he does feel love because he doesn't know what the feeling is. I think he honestly loved him. But of course, he felt confused."

"But if-"

"Let me finish. I would like you to be in Severus's mind with me. Pretend it was you in this situation."

"Very well," she said, shutting her eyes.

There was silence as she stared at her eyelids.

"Now, you're sitting under a tree and you're reviewing your O.W.L. paper."

It seemed almost magical, but in an instant, there was a lake in front of her, and a lawn of grass. There were leaves above her head, a blue sky, puffy, white clouds. There was a blue bag with a patch on the front beside her and a paper in her hands. But they weren't her hands. They were . . . well . . . his hands.

"You get up to leave and you put the paper in your bag."

She out the paper in the bag and stood up. She began to walk across the lawn when there was a voice that wasn't Dumbledore.

"All right, Snivellus?"

Dumbledore's voice was faint in the background.

"You drop your bag, pull out your wand and try to defend yourself, but they're too quick for you."

She dropped the bag and swished out the black wand. But before she knew it, James shouted, "_Expelliarmus!" _and the wand flew out of her hand into the grass behind her. She was about to dive for the wand, when she heard another voice shout, _"Impedimenta!" _and she was knocked off her feet.

She was lying on the ground, panting, looking up. Sirius and James were above her, and a few other people joined the crowd, smiling.

"How'd the exam go, Snivelly?" asked James.

"I was watching him, his nose was touching the parchment," said Sirius, grinning. "There'll be great grease marks all over it, they won't be able to read a word."

"People around you begin to laugh and mock you," said Dumbledore. Lily sat up, forgetting Dumbledore was there.

Suddenly, she felt her mouth open and a voice that was not her own spoke: "You- wait . . . you- wait . . ." It was Severus's voice.

"Wait for what? What're you going to do, Snivelly, wipe your nose on us?" asked Sirius

Severus's voice began to curse.

"Wash out your mouth. _Scourgify!"_

She looked down at her mouth and saw that pink bubbles began to form on her lips . . . well, really, Severus's lips. _This is so weird! _She thought.

There was a new voice. "Leave him ALONE!"

The two boys looked around and there, coming from the lake was . . . Lily. _This has just gotten weirder! _She thought.

"All right, Evans?" said James.

"Leave him alone! What's he done to you?" Lily asked. The other Lily stared in dismay.

"Well, it's more the fact that he _exists, _if you know what I mean . . ."

"You're being humiliated in front of a crowd of students while, because you couldn't defend yourself, you're best friend defends you." said Dumbledore in the background. Lily watched herself yell at James and she felt angry. James was so awful then.

"You think you're funny, but you're just an arrogant, bullying toerag, Potter. Leave him _alone."_

"I will if you go out with me, Evans. Go on . . . go out with me and I'll never lay a wand on old Snivelly again."

The Lily in Severus's body began to feel the jinx wear off. She felt herself begin to inch towards the black wand.

"I wouldn't go out with you if it was a choice between you and the giant squid." said the other Lily. Lily in Snape's body smiled inside. _And look at that. I married him,_

"Bad luck, Prongs! OY!"

Lily in Snape's body (_That sounds so weird!) _was throwing curses at the boys now. In a few seconds, she felt herself float up and all of a sudden, she was upside-down by the tree. People began to laugh all around. She felt awful. _This is how he felt. Absolutely humiliated. How awful! _"Let him down!" shouted the other Lily.

"Certainly." said James, and she felt herself fall with a thud. She stood up, but soon fell over again when Sirius shouted, _"Petrificus Totalus!"_

"LEAVE HIM ALONE!" shouted Lily, her wand out.

"Ah, Evans, don't make me hex you," said James.

"Take the curse off him, then!"

James sighed and pointed his wand at the other Lily and muttered the countercurse.

"There you go. You're lucky Evans was here, Snivellus-"

"I don't need help from filthy little Mudbloods like her!"

Lily quickly opened her eyes, back in her kitchen. "Whoa," she said quietly. Dumbledore was looking at her, smiling, hands folded on his lap. "That was . . . whoa. I . . . was in his body. It was weird."

"It must've been." he said. "After a while, I stopped the narration, because well, you know the scene too well. But perhaps you now know it from another point of view. Severus was being humiliated in front of everybody because he couldn't defend himself, when a Gryffindor girl could."

"What does being a Gryffindor and a girl have anything to do with it?" she asked angrily.

"Oh, you know, Severus is a Slytherin, with Slytherin friends who would make fun of him later because a Gryffindor saved him from further embarrassment. And in a boy's mind, you being a girl makes it all the worse. Don't ask me to explain, I don't have the desire to explain the feelings of men." Lily smiled. "Does that put a new perspective in your mind?"

"Yes, I think so," she said. "I don't know if I forgive him yet, though. I'll have to think about it."

"Of course," said Dumbledore.

James returned from the bedroom. 'That took a long time!" said Lily.

"Yeah, well, we have a stubborn baby," said James. Then he turned to Dumbledore. "I'm sorry I yelled at you. I just got angry, that's all."

"Think nothing of it," said Dumbledore smiling. He looked at his watch. "Look at the time, it's nearly nine! We ought to go into the sitting room and wait for the others to arrive." They stood up and left the kitchen.

Dumbledore sat at his spot in the sitting room, while Lily and James sat beside each other, across from him. James put his hands on Lily's waist. "I can't believe this is our last Order meeting," Lily said sadly.

"Yeah, I know, me neither." he said sadly. "But don't worry, we'll be just fine, you'll see." He touched her nose and she smiled.

"We have to make sure everybody stays afterwards. I want to say good-bye to everybody."

"Yeah, of course!" he said. Then he paused. "Even-"

"Yes, even Severus. I want to say bye to him too."

"Good luck getting him to stay!" he said. Lily rolled her eyes, grinning.

The fire glowed green and Sirius came in, followed by Remus, then the Weasleys, then Peter. Slowly, the room was filled with people. Lily sat in a corner of the room near Alice Longbottom. A chair was right beside her. She hoped maybe she could get Snape to sit by her.

The meeting was about to start when Severus arrived. He looked tired and you could tell he had been to see Voldemort. There was a cut under his left eye and a bruise on his hand. Who knew how many more were hidden under his black robes? Lily gave a tiny gasp. Dumbledore nodded at him and Snape nodded back. The fire glowed again and Minerva and Hagrid arrived. Snape scanned the room. The only seats available were next to Black or next to Lily. He'd take Lily. He walked over towards her and sat down beside her. She looked around and noticed they were still missing Moody. Dumbledore _never _started without Moody.

She turned to Snape. "Hi," she said. He looked at her and rolled his eyes.

"Hello," he said.

"You look tired," she said quietly. "Dumbledore told me you came back late last night."

"More like early this morning," he muttered. "I'm exhausted."

"Then why didn't you just stay at Hogwarts and sleep?" she asked.

"Try sleeping when Minerva McGonagall dumps ice cold water on you, right in your bed," he said, glancing at her angrily.

Lily covered her mouth to hide her giggle. "Oh no! She didn't!" "She did. And when I woke up and told her I was going to kill her, do you know what she said? She said, 'Dumbledore told me to wake you up for the meeting!' I can think of about a zillion other ways to wake me up!"

Lily smiled. "Good God, you must've been so angry."

"Beyond angry," he said. He looked at her. "Why are you talking to me?" he said, as though finally realizing she was talking to him.

"I don't know," she said. "I want to talk to you."

"I thought you were angry at me."

"Are you angry at me?"

"At a small degree, yes." he said, barely above a whisper. "What about you?"

"No," she said. "Not anymore. I just wanted to say that . . ."

But the fire glowed green and Moody came in and they had to be quiet because the meeting was starting. "I'll tell you later," she whispered and he nodded.

After Moody sat down, Dumbledore stood up. "Wonderful to see you all back here again. I know, two Order meetings, two days in a row can be stressful and a hassle, but we must have the Potters in hiding as soon as possible." He looked around the room. "We have a few things to clear up tonight. I hope we can make this meeting brief, because I know we all want to say good-bye before the Potters must leave. So, let us begin.

"The first thing we need to do, is I need to warn you all of something very important. It is something I have warned the Potters about this very evening. It is extremely important for our safety and well being." Dumbledore took a breath. "We have a spy in our midst." A few eyes shot towards Snape. Dumbledore caught them "No, I'm afraid some of you may misunderstand. I don't mean somebody is spying for us, I mean, somebody is spying _on _us."

"Oh, they knew what he meant," whispered James to Sirius, who snickered softly.

"This is a huge danger towards the Order of the Phoenix," continued Dumbledore. "Until we discover who this spy is, we are not entirely safe."

"Dumbledore, how do you know?" asked Minerva.

"Well, how do you explain how Lord Voldemort knows where we are when we are? How do we explain him knowing certain bits of information that only an Order member would know? It's obvious that we have a spy. Unfortunately, it is not obvious who that spy is. So keep your eyes and ears open and tell me about your suspicions. I have my own. To the spy, well, you've been warned."

There was a dead silence. "Speaking of spies," said Dumbledore, breaking the silence. "It seems we may have some information from Lord Voldemort from one of our spies. Severus, tell us, did Lord Voldemort inform you of anything?" Again, the spotlight was on him. He thought back to his meeting with the Dark Lord last night. What was he told?

"He didn't say very much," he began. "He vaguely mentioned that he wasn't planning on sparing any of the Potters and that I should trick Dumbledore. The meeting was mostly him asking me why I was at Hogwarts, him telling me how to spy, and me . . . giving him information."

"You _gave _him information?" asked Lupin.

"I had to. It would be too suspicious if I didn't."

"What did you tell him, Severus?" asked Dumbledore.

"I told him who knows the Potters location and about the Fidelius Charm and that they're leaving for where ever tonight."

Dumbledore nodded. "It's a start. Hopefully, we'll get more information in the future, when this becomes a habit. It's good that Voldemort doesn't know where the Potters are staying. As long as our Secret-Keeper keeps quiet, this might work out."

"Does Voldemort know who the Secret-Keeper is?" asked Kingsley.

"No, I didn't tell him," said Severus, looking at Black. "He would kidnap and torture the Secret-Keeper if I did." Sirius looked at the floor.

"Very good, very good," said Dumbledore. "Thank you, Severus." Snape said nothing. "Now, we need to discuss some future plans . . ."

The meeting went on until about 9:45. When it was over and done, Severus stood up and began to walk towards the door. Lily jumped up. "Oh no you don't!" she said, moving quickly towards the door and blocking it from him. "I'm not letting you leave early tonight! This is my last night in freedom!"

"That's wonderful," he said, trying to move her away.

"Stop!" she said. "Don't you get it? Tonight may be the last night I'll ever see you!"

"As long as Black keeps his mouth shut, it won't be." he said.

"Oh, Severus, please stay," she begged. He stared questioningly at her. "We were talking before the meeting started, remember? I want to finish our conversation!"

"I'll talk to you," he said. "But I am _not _going in there."

She rolled her eyes and smiled. "Fine, fine, fine, let's stay in here, as long as you're staying!" She walked over to the couch and he sat beside her.

"Well?" he said. "You dragged me over here to talk Talk!"

"I . . . Remember when I said I had to tell you something?"

He sighed. "Of course I do, it happened less than an hour ago!"

"OK, well, I just wanted to say that . . . I'm really, really, _really _sorry for what I said last week. You know, when we fought?" He said nothing and looked down. "Well, most of what I said were lies and I'm really sorry." Then she paused. "Do you forgive me?"

He looked at her. "You expect me to forgive you? Really?"

"No," she said honestly. "But I forgive you, for what you said a week ago."

"I didn't even say sorry!" he said. She blushed. "But . . . er . . . I _am _sorry, even though I didn't say it yet. I probably said more lies to you than vice-versa."

She laughed. "You talk like Dumbledore!"

He rolled his eyes. "That's just sick." Then he looked at her curiously. "You told Dumbledore about this?"

"Yeah," she said.

"Why?"

"I needed somebody to talk to about it."

"But why Dumbledore?"

"You're right, Sev. I should've told James." She grinned. "Didn't you talk to anybody?"

"I don't usually . . . tell people my feelings. But Minerva suspected we had fought. I denied it."

"Oh." Lily looked at the floor. "So, I forgive you. Do you forgive me?"

"No," he said.

"Why?" she demanded, standing up. He didn't look up at her.

"You didn't forgive me," he said logically.

"Yes I did! I just said I did!"

"Not for everything."

There was an awkward silence. Then Lily said, "Severus, I . . . I'm sorry, but I _can't _forgive that. That was too much."

"If you can't forgive me for saying one offensive word, how can you forgive me for saying many?"

"This . . . that . . . I . . . I don't know."

"If you can't forgive me and I can't forgive you then why are you even talking to me?"

She sighed. "I don't know. I thought maybe we could be friends."

He looked up at her. "You didn't want to be friends before. Why now?"

"You're back in my life again!"

"But you kicked me out in the first place."

"And it was a mistake. I want you back now."

"You might have to drag me in."

"I _will_ have to drag you in. Speaking of going in, won't you come into the kitchen with me? Or do I have to drag you in?"

"You'll have to drag me in," he replied.

"That'll be easy. It's not like you're not skinny anymore." He sighed and stood up.

"Well, Mrs. Potter, I must get going now-"

"What?" she exclaimed. "No, Sev, please don't go."

"Stop begging, it makes you look pathetic."

"I don't care!" she wailed, tugging his arm, looking near tears. "Stay!"

"You're so immature," he groaned.

"Please stay!" she repeated. "Come into the kitchen with me! You don't have to stay long!"

"I . . ." Then he felt his Mark burn again. He yanked his right arm out of Lily's grasp and held his left forearm. He groaned.

"What's wrong?" she asked, looking at his arm. Then she looked up at him. "Is it . . . your Mark?" He nodded. "Can I see it? I've never seen the Dark Mark burn before."

"Don't make it sound like some museum attraction. Why would you want to see my Mark burn?" She grabbed his left sleeve at the wrist and pulled it down. She stared at the ugly tattoo on his arm burn black. She gave a small gasp.

"Does it hurt?" she asked quietly. He nodded, slipping the sleeve up. "Well, you better go. I guess I'll see you-"

The kitchen door slammed open and Peter Pettigrew stormed out of the house. The two watched him as he left.

"Li- Mrs. Potter, wait here, I'll be back." said Snape and he walked towards the kitchen door. He pushed it open and slipped in. The table was crowded with laughing people. James's eye caught Snape.

"What're you doing here?" he demanded. Everybody looked at him.

Snape, ignoring the others, said to Dumbledore. "Headmaster, he calls." Dumbledore nodded.

"Very well, Severus, be careful." Snape nodded and left the room, hearing the whispers of "Who's 'he'?" as he left. Snape walked into the sitting room again.

"I had to tell, Dumbledore," he said. "Anyway, I have to go now." Lily looked into his eyes curiously. "What is it?"

"Are you going to miss me?"

Snape's eyes widened. He stared into the depths of the green eyes before him. "Miss you?" he repeated. She nodded. "I . . . I don't know. I guess." She smiled.

"Well, bye." she said.

"Bye," he replied, turning around and heading for the door, not looking back.

**A/N: Another chapter completed! So, what'd cha think? Too short? Too long? Too dumb? Too weird? Too awesomely perfect? Review please! I hope it was good, but IDK if it was. Next update: Let's say between Tuesday and Friday. I'm pretty sure I'm going to finish this story by the end of summer! **


	9. The New House

**A/N: Hi again. I'm back with another update. Thanks for all the reviews, anonymous or not. Nothing else to say except enjoy and review.**

_"I don't need help from filthy little Mudbloods like her!"_

_ The voice echoed again._

_ " . . . filthy little Mudbloods . . ."_

_ It haunted her sleep._

_ "I don't need help . . ._

"Stop . . . stop!"

_The memories didn't stop . . ._

_ "I guess I'm not considered a person to you. Not that you're considered a great importance to me."_

_ They continued to roll on, as though they were tumbling down a hill, bumping right into her, while she stood at the bottom._

_ "It must be amazing to get praise for things you don't deserve . . ."_

"No . . . stop . . . no more . . ."

_There was blackness . . ._

_ Until . . ._

_ "You're right, I can't take the truth. You went right and I went left. I made the mistake, you made the right choice. That's why you're here with a family and I'm crouching before the Dark Lord against my will."_

"Lils?"

Lily sat up in bed, wide-eyed. "J-J-James?" she called into the darkness.

"Lils, I'm right next to you," he said. She looked to her left and saw a vague silhouette of her husband, sitting up. He put his hand on her shoulder. "You OK? I heard you screaming."

"No . . . I mean, I'm fine, really." She slowly began to control her breathing, but the shaking wouldn't cease.

"What happened there?"

"I just had a nightmare, that's all," she assured. "It was stupid, screaming like that. And not knowing where you were. Stupid . . . Sorry I woke you."

"It's OK, really. I'm just glad you're OK. And hey, don't feel stupid about not knowing where you were. We're in a new house, things can get confusing." He hugged her comfortingly and lay back down. Lily nodded and pulled the blanket off herself. The floorboards creaked as she got out of bed. She put her slippers and robe on. "Where are you going?" asked her husband.

"To check on Harry. It calms me down. Sleep." She slowly crept out of the room and opened the door, closing it behind her. She walked down the small hallway, passing the bathroom and the staircase, until she reached the door at the end of the hall. She slowly pushed it open and entered the room. It had a blue wall, and a circular blue and green carpet in the middle of the floor. The floor was covered with toys. On one side of the room was a blue playpen where a few toys and blankets were. Across from that was a rocking chair with a night table next to it. Next to the door, was a changing table, stocked with diapers and lotions. And in the farthest corner of the room was a wooden crib with a mobile hanging above it. Lily crept across the room, trying to avoid the toys on the floor. Unfortunately, she stepped on a rubber duck, which gave an extremely loud _SQUEAK! _when she stepped on it. Cries came from the crib. "Oh, _Harry!" _she whispered tenderly as she rushed over to the crib and picked up the baby, who was wrapped in blankets.

"Oh, Harry, love, I'm so sorry! Hush now, hush. We don't want to wake up Daddy." She walked over towards the rocking chair and sat down, rocking her baby as she pat him on the back. The child gave occasional wails and sniffles and Lily could feel a few tears on her neck. "Baby, don't cry, it's OK, nothing's going to hurt you, Mummy's here. I just stepped on your ducky. Hush now, love." She said these things softly, and slowly, the baby's noise ceased and he began to drift off to sleep, the tears still falling from his eyes. "I know you're frightened sweetheart. I am too. This, all of this, this new house, this new life, it's scary. How are we going to deal with it all?" Harry was near sleep now. "But we have each other, right honey? We do. And no matter what happens, we'll be together. Always." Then she sighed and stopped patting the baby's back and continued to rock. How she loved being a mother. "Good night, sugar," she whispered in his ear. She crept across the room again and put the baby down. Then she slipped out of the room, shut the door softly and dashed down the hall, quickly. She was scared to be alone for too long now, in this house, at night. Lily would never admit it, but she was mildly afraid of the dark. And with Voldemort coming after them . . . No, she felt most comfortable during the daylight hours with her family and friends. Besides, being scared wasn't a crime. Well, as long as nobody knew . . .

#######################################

"Severus, are you sure you're quite all right?"

"Headmaster, I'm _fine! _The meeting was two nights ago, stop worrying."

Dumbledore sighed and leaned back against the grand chair in his office. "I can't help it. You nearly _died _on my couch after the last meeting-"

"Headmaster, you're exaggerating. I fell asleep."

"You were bruised and cut raw, my dear boy-"

"-And now I'm fine." Dumbledore looked at the man sitting across the desk from him.

"This mustn't continue if this keeps happening," he said sternly.

"And we do what?" asked Snape. "You ship me back to Azkaban? I tell the Dark Lord I give up on spying on you and get killed? Headmaster, the only alternative would do the exact opposite of what you want to cease happening. We have to continue." He looked down and sighed. Dumbledore looked concerned.

"Just be careful," said Dumbledore. "That's all I ask. Hopefully, when next school year rolls around, Lord Voldemort will call you less often, knowing you are busier than usual. You have told him about September?" Snape nodded miserably. "Why so grave?"

"It's nothing," said Snape.

"There's something. I can tell. Tell me."

Snape didn't speak for a few minutes, then said, "I don't really _want _to be a teacher. Or do any of this, as a matter of fact."

"Being a teacher here would keep you closer to me and give you good use here. Another reason you shouldn't be in Azkaban: How on earth could I let such a clever mind rot away in a prison cell?"

"But if I have to be a teacher, why can't I teach something I actually have interest in?"

"I am not permitting you to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts for three reasons. One, you have just recruited from Dark to Light. I am not going to have you near the Dark Arts right after I've gotten you away from them. Two, I have heard from Professor Slughorn that you were one of the most talented students in potions that he's ever had and he can't think of anyone who would do the job as well as you. He did recommend Lily Potter, but I told him she wouldn't be available." Snape smirked. "And the third reason will be something I will tell you in due time. When my trust in you strengthens more."

"Then why mention it?" he muttered to himself. Dumbledore ignored him.

"It isn't about teaching what subject, it's about making yourself useful _and _have you near me. I can't just let you go off and find a job in a pub somewhere and expect you to just come back to feed me information."

"You don't trust me?" asked Snape.

"I trust you, but I need to watch you for a while. You've just come out of Azkaban after being sentenced for a lifetime. The Ministry, not to mention the general public, wouldn't find it fitting that I let you go off on your own. Besides, you don't want to work at a pub, do you?"

"Why a pub? You think I'm good enough to be a professor, but I couldn't get anything better than a bar tender out there?"

"Exactly. I doubt anybody would hire a Death Eater, clever or not."

"Lucius Malfoy got a job at the Ministry," said Snape.

"He paid his way out of prison and into the Minister's good books." said Dumbledore. "We are living in a very greedy government. You can use money to buy yourself out and into basically everything."

Snape sighed, as though giving up. "Do I _have _to teach Potions?" he whined.

"No. You could help Mr. Filch, you know."

"No, no, Potions is fine," said Snape quickly.

"Wonderful! Glad you've changed your perspective on things!" Dumbledore pulled out a piece of parchment and scribbled something on it. "You'll be going back to your house in a few weeks time. I suggest you start getting ready. When you come back, you'll be staying in Professor Slughorn's quarters and you'll get his office. I also suggest you buy a lock for both your doors."

"Why?" asked Snape. He was already planning on doing so, but he wondered why Dumbledore was asking.

"Well, having a male teacher who's under 70 is very . . . exciting to girls, especially the older ones. Who knows what they'll do? Especially the ones in Slytherin, since you're their Head of House, they'll want to . . . ah, become closer to you."

"Close to me?" asked Snape, looking puzzled. "That's very . . . disturbing. But they probably won't, Dumbledore. Some of my new students were my old school mates. They know me."

"In three years, those students will be gone and that will be all over," Dumbledore assured.

"I'm too young to teach," Snape said.

"If somebody else besides yourself had said that, I would have agreed. But I have _complete _faith in you." Dumbledore smiled at the younger man, who said nothing. He stood up and walked over to a hook by the door and pulled on his traveling cloak. "Well, I ought to go check on the Potters, see how they've settled in. I arranged with Sirius to have all their furniture and some new things to bring over. I have to bring some drinks as well. Now that the Potters aren't working and can't go out, Order members have been donating money, food, drinks, toys for Harry, and so on, to them." He stopped and looked at Snape, as though to say, _"Why don't you donate?" _

"Oh?" said Snape. "Well, that's interesting. Very well, Headmaster, I shan't keep you," Before Dumbledore could speak, Snape swept out of the room.

#######################################

Lily untied the plastic bag and pulled out the three jugs of butterbeer and one bottle of firewhisky. She placed them on the table and reached in for the four water gallons. When the eight containers of liquid were on the table, she crumpled up the plastic bag and threw it in the wastebasket. "Thank you so much for bringing these drinks over, Dumbledore." she said, walking back into the sitting room. "They're appreciated." She sat down on the couch between James and Sirius. Remus sat in a chair next to them and Dumbledore in one across. Dumbledore smiled.

"No need for thanks, it was no bother," he said. Lily sighed and looked around the room.

"It's smaller than our old house," she said.

"Better than staying in a room at Hogwarts," commented James. Lily nodded and put her head on his shoulder.

"Still, Harry's already starting to walk. He's getting his hands into EVERYTHING and once he's actually walking . . . I don't know, the old house was bigger . . ."

"Hopefully, this will all be over by then," said Sirius.

"We're doing all we can to make this as quick as possible," said Remus.

"And we're so glad you are," said James, softly, stroking Lily's hair. "But this might get hard, after a while. You know I can't stay in one dwelling for too long. I'll get restless."

"Then this is a wonderful time to get rid or your restlessness," said Lily, sitting up right again. "And you're not the only one; I'm going to miss going shopping and taking Harry to the park and going to friend's houses. And once Harry realizes there's more world beyond our front door . . . goodness, we'll be a restless mess!"

"Don't worry, Lily," said Sirius. "We'll get you out of this mess and until then, we'll help make this as easy as possible. We'll do the shopping."

"And your friends will come here instead of it being the other way around," said Remus.

Lily smiled. "You, all of you, are so wonderful. Thank you." She crossed her legs. "So, how are things in the outside world?"

"Not much going on," said Sirius. "More killings and disappearances. Nothing new. Just the same destruction, terror, and catastrophe."

"Where's the new Order headquarters?" asked Lily.

"Sirius's place," said Lupin. "Though, I must say, it isn't nearly as well kept as your place." Sirius smirked.

"It's 'cause I don't have a wife to clean for me!" he said angrily.

"What about at Hogwarts?" asked James, quickly.

"Not much difference," said Dumbledore. "Term is ending, summer holidays are on their way. New teachers trying to sort out paperwork, old teachers complaining." Lily smiled. "The only difference is that some students are withdrawing. The parents, you know, they think it's safer to teach them at home."

"I don't blame them," said Lily. "I'd be terrified to send my child away during this war, even if it is to Hogwarts."

"Hogwarts is probably safer than teaching at home, though," said Remus. "All the protection, all of the spells, nothing can harm them, really. The only thing that might hurt them would be blowing up a potion, going near the Whomping Willow, or drowning in the lake." James and Sirius both gave chuckles.

"But it's instinct," said Lily seriously. "You want to keep your child next to you, whether it's safer or not. It's selfish, but it's the truth."

"I'd be more worried about Hosgmeade visits," said Sirius. "You should postpone them Dumbledore. Next year, you know."

"Hopefully, things will be a bit better by then," said Dumbledore. "I see no reason to postpone them, though. Unless things go to extreme, the students will be perfectly safe as long as we have some extra teachers, Order members, and Aurors along. I usually have at least three Order members, the Heads of House, and a few Aurors go along. Though, Professor Slughorn doesn't exactly help; He's usually getting drunk at the Three Broomsticks." Everyone smiled.

Dumbledore waved his wand and the butterbeer and six glasses came into the sitting room. "Speaking of drinking, anybody care for a butterbeer?" He poured the glasses and handed them out.

"Dumbledore, why'd you bring out six when there are only five of us?" asked Lily

"Peter ought to be arriving soon," said Dumbledore, taking a sip of butterbeer.

"Oh, yeah," said Lupin. "Where is he? I have to leave soon, I thought I'd be able to say hello."

"He's been late for things lately," said James.

"Or he leaves early," added Sirius, draining his glass of butterbeer.

"It's weird," said Lily. There was a silence. After a while, Lupin stood up.

"Well, I'm sorry, but I've got to get going," he said. The others stood up and Lupin shook hands with Dumbledore, slapped James and Sirius on the backs, and hugged Lily. "I'll try to come around later. If not, I'll see you tomorrow."

"Bye, Remus," said Lily.

"See you at the Leaky Cauldron," called Sirius.

"Good-bye, Remus," said Dumbledore.

"Bye, Moony," said James. Remus was smiling as he left the house. Lily picked up his empty glass and walked into the kitchen, rinsing it out in the sink. When she turned the faucet off, she heard the door open in the other room and voices of welcome. "Peter!" she whispered. She quickly dried her hands off and flipped the light off as she left. "Hello, Peter!" she said, giving him a hug. "We've missed you! Where _have _you been?"

Peter looked a bit shaken, but he gave a ratty smile. "Hello, Lily," he said, shakily. "Sorry, I'm late. Was busy . . ." He faded off.

James slapped him on the back and he nearly fell over in fear. "That's fine, mate." said James, unaware of Peter's shakiness. "C'mon into the kitchen with me and Sirius!" James, Sirius, and Peter grabbed their drinks. The three men walked into the kitchen, talking and laughing, shutting the door behind them, leaving Lily and Dumbledore alone. Lily sighed and leaned back into the couch.

"I have to admit, this _is _a nice house," she said.

"The best I could find," Dumbledore replied.

"In a nice area too. But that really doesn't matter, I mean, we won't be able to enjoy it or anything." She looked at the floor, and then looked up at Dumbledore. "Dumbledore, do you think it's possible that . . . maybe, Sirius could allow some more people to be able to come and visit. It's not that I don't love the Marauders, I do! I just miss some of my other friends."

"I'm sure Sirius wouldn't mind letting one or two people in. But we cannot extend this list of people much longer, Lily, and you know it's for your own safety." Dumbledore leaned in a bit. "Who were you thinking of?"

Lily blushed. "Well . . . er . . . you know, Alice . . . er . . . maybe even Minerva . . . er . . . you know, other people . . . ."

"Severus?" asked Dumbledore, giving a knowing smile.

"If you . . . er . . . want him to come," said Lily, happy for an excuse.

"Did you speak with him?"

"Yes," said Lily. "I told him I forgave him, but wouldn't forgive me."

"I see," said Dumbledore. "What did you say you forgave him for?"

Lily stammered. "Uh . . . the fight, we had, the other day . . . you know . . ."

"What about the other thing?"

"What other thing?"

"Lily . . ."

"OK, I told him I didn't forgive him for that."

"I thought so," said Dumbledore. "You can't expect him to let go of his grudge on you if you don't do the same. You have to learn to forgive completely before you can be forgiven." Lily sighed.

"But I can't forgive him! How can I tell him that I forgive him when I don't?"

Dumbledore walked over and squeezed her shoulder. He spoke in soft, but firm, calming tone; "Find it in your heart to forgive him. Until then, the friendship you wish to have will be built on a weak foundation of grudges and lies. I'll go talk to Sirius." He walked out of the sitting room and into the kitchen. Lily decided not to linger around with all these sad thoughts. She walked upstairs into the nursery and picked up Harry out of his playpen, where he was chewing on the arm of a teddy bear.

"No, Harry, we don't bite Bear-Bear," she said, pulling the stuffed toy out of his mouth and back into the playpen. "If you want something to chew on, I'll get you something in the kitchen, OK? Come on, baby, let's go say hi to Daddy's friends."

"Seweeus?" gurgled the baby.

"Yes, Sirius is there. Now come on," She held him tightly as she walked down the stairs. James and Peter were in the sitting room, alone. "Look who's here everybody!" said Lily. Peter and James looked up at her and both of them smiled.

"Harry!" said James, and Harry smiled. Lily handed her husband the baby and he put him on his lap. "How are you, little man?" Harry bounced up and down on his father's knee. "Look, Harry, it's Peter. Say hi to Peter, Harry."

"Hi," he said, not as excited. Lily noticed Harry didn't enjoy Peter's company as much as he did everyone else's. He looked up at his father. "Puff!" he shouted. James grinned.

"OK, I'll do puff for you, champ. Peter," he said to his friend, laughing. "Watch this! Harry goes _crazy _when I do puff!"

"What is 'puff', exactly?" asked Peter. James smiled. He pushed the coffee table to the side of the sitting room with his leg. He knelt on the floor and put Harry down.

"Watch," he answered. He waved his wand a sparkly cloud of blue came out and floated in the air. Harry began to giggle and bounce crazily, laughing. The next puff was green. The other one pink. Then a yellow. Then a red.

"WED!" shouted Harry, trying to grab the cloud. He fell with an OOFF! and continued to giggle. Peter watched, not a bit amused.

"Er . . ." he began. "That's very interesting."

"Puff, dadda, puff!" said Harry happily.

James and Harry played on the floor, laughing, while Lily watched, laughing too. Even Peter was smiling now. It seemed, at that moment a happy place to be. Well, yes, if you were in the sitting room. The kitchen, however, is a different story . . .

#######################################

"No."

"Sirius, consider it, just for a moment-"

"No."

"Sirius, you have-"

"No."

"Sirius, you are being unreasonable-"

"_I'm _being unreasonable? Me? I'm the unreasonable one?"

"Yes, you are. You aren't even giving it a second thought. You are being selfish-"

"Selfish! Dumbledore, I'm thinking of my best friend's safety!"

"As long as you keep your mouth closed, he is safe. But think about his wife's comfort. All of his friends are here, why not have some of hers?"

"Minerva and Alice are fine; I trust them. But I won't tell him."

"Sirius, you, must think reason. She wants him here. He won't do anything. If he does anything, _anything _that you find suspicious, I will confront him." Dumbledore leaned in. "Sirius, give him a second chance. He needs one, from all of us. Please."

Sirius sighed and leaned back into the chair. "You're a crazy old coot, Dumbledore, you know that?" he said smiling. Dumbledore smiled.

"I know. And one day, you'll be one as well, Sirius." Then Dumbledore looked at him, confused. "Is that a yes?"

**A/N: Well, that's the end of this chapter. I am so excited now! I just saw **_**Letters to Juliet **_**and it is SPECTACULAR! If you love romance and Europe and twists and stuff like that, this is SO the movie for you! It's inspired me so much. Sorry to carry on like this, but I'm just getting so many ideas about my own relationships that might not be realistic, but I can dream. Well, time to call my Romeo! Toodles! (Oh, PS, review and the next update is . . . when I'm summer break, which is in two days.)**


	10. The Note

**Well, here we are again with our tenth chapter of my favorite fic, Lily's Prisoner. This chapter is supposed to be quite short because it's just stating a simple, short, but necessary, event. I hope you like it and please review. OK? Great!**

**I'M ON SUMMER VACATION!**

**I am sad because my school closed down. Like forever. Like I won't go back next year. Sniffle. Oh well, life is full of change. Still, I'm sad. That's why I'm taking a bit longer with updates. I wanna have fun, you know?**

**This chapter is dedicated to ALL my anonymous reviewers, whom I shall name:**

**Illusions- Thanks so much for your many reviews!**

**catintheSky- You were the first reviewer for this story. Thanks so much for motivating me to continue!**

**totalreader at yahoo- I don't know much about you, but you reviewed all the same! Thanks!**

**al- Thanks for reviewing!**

**abda- I hope you like the rest of this story.**

Snape stood in his rooms for the last time. Finally, the school year was over and he was going home. He had been packed for weeks; anxiously awaiting the day the noisy students would clatter back home to annoy their parents. There would be a day of silence in the castle, a day, he had to add, was extremely peaceful. The students were gone, the teachers were writing end of year papers, and everybody was too busy to even realize he was there. Nobody said a word to him all day. He was sleeping in his rooms and nobody came in to wake him or tell him to eat or ask him to help them. His Mark didn't burn and all day his mind was filled with the thoughts of leaving Hogwarts and returning to Spinner's End. He was sick and tired of being in this castle, right at Dumbledore's fingertips. No, now he would go home and be alone for two months, before he would have to go back. Unfortunately, he knew it wouldn't be as wonderful as he made it sound.

It was June 28. He would have to return to Hogwarts on August 23. During the period of time he had off, he would be attending Order meetings, Death Eater meetings, and (hopefully, less frequent) meetings with Dumbledore. He hated Order meetings, he hated Death Eater meetings, and he hated meetings with Dumbledore. IN short, he hated meetings. But he couldn't say he hated Dumbledore. Dumbledore did give him back his life, even though he modified it and decided to take it over; still, he got it back. He wasn't lying against a cot on the floor of a cell in Azkaban, freezing because of the Dementors, near insanity. No, he was at Hogwarts. He was going to get a job. He was going to help the Light. He wasn't going to rot away into nothingness. He wasn't going to waste his time, his life. And he was _not _going to be Azkaban's youngest prisoner.

He looked at the two suitcases on the floor beside his bed. Next time he came back, he'd have more luggage, not much, but more all the same. And he'd be in the dungeons, in a larger space. A more familiar one too. Gryffindors and Ravenclaws would be asking how Slytherins slept down there, in that cold corner of the castle. How did they live without those beautiful sunset views from their windows or the warmth of a tower? It was an easy question to answer: You get used to it. It took him a day to get used to it. Sleeping in a dungeon was better than sleeping in a bedroom where you could hear your parents fighting downstairs, where you could hear your mother screaming and your father cackling and you could hear the bangs and the crashes. Being cold was a small price to pay to escape that.

And the dungeons were dark. He hated light. It stung his eyes. It was another reason he hated this room. It was like a smaller version of Dumbledore's office; Light everywhere, from he fire, from candles, from the window. He tried to cover up the light, but there was too much. He would shut the curtains, blow out the candles and put the fire down to embers, but nothing would help. He would eventually need the candles for reading, and the embers always somehow came back to life, and the sun somehow peek through the curtains.

He sat down on the bed and looked around the small room, making sure he had packed his small amount of things away. He didn't want to come back for something he forgot. The shelves were bare, the tables empty, the floor cleared. The bed was made, thanks to a house elf, and the room was as empty and spotless as it was when he arrived. Then, it had seemed a relief, to have a bed to sleep on, instead of some filthy cot. Now, he hated it. How he took things for granted . . .

There was a knock on his door. "Come in," he said. Minerva came in. She didn't close the door behind her.

"Severus, Professor Dumbledore says it's time for you to leave now," she said simply, not bothering to go too far past the doorway. He nodded. "Are you ready?" He gave another nod. "Good. Well, come on then, he wants to speak with you before you go off grounds to Apparate."

"Very well," said Snape.

"Oh, he said Filch will get your things. Come now." Snape stood up and followed Minerva towards Dumbledore's office, not looking at the room again.

#######################################

He slipped the note, tied tightly with string, in the owl's beak. "There you go," he said calmly to it. "Now go on and send it," The owl gave a hoot and hopped on to the windowsill. It began to flap its wings and finally, it took off, soaring into the distance beyond. He watched it go, shaking his head. "I shouldn't have done that." Sirius Black shook his head again, shut the window, and left his room.

#######################################

It felt awkward to be home once again, Snape concluded once back in Spinner's End. After months away, in prison, at Hogwarts, the house felt empty and neglected. But there was another feeling too, as though it had been intruded upon. When the Aurors had taken him away, off to Azkaban, he had seen a glance at his destroyed sitting room when they had led him out. Everything was tipped over or pulled and wrecked. He hated that Potter, Black, and Lupin went through his house, destroying everything in their paths to find him. And when he was released, of course, some Ministry workers must've come in and fixed everything up. Dumbledore. The nerve of him to send complete strangers into his house to clean it up. Snape could've done it himself. What was magic for?

Dumbledore obviously didn't know enough about him. But that was Dumbledore, thinking he knew everything about everyone. He thought Snape would be happy he had been bought out of prison. It was true, he was grateful to Dumbledore, he had gotten him out of Azkaban, but was being bought absolutely necessary. Still, he had given the second chance he needed. But then again, who had ever given him a chance in the first place? Dumbledore trusted him and had faith in him, two things _nobody _had _ever _done before. He liked being trusted, but he didn't know if he deserved it. Sometimes, he felt like disobeying Dumbledore, but he mustered all his self-control and stopped himself. He couldn't betray that trust, the trust that gave him back his life. And faith? Dumbledore actually had confidence in him. That wasn't new, though. The Dark Lord had faith in him . . . in fact, he did trust him. But he trusted him to do wrong and had the confidence he could carry it out. Dumbledore had a brighter truth, and a brighter faith. He just had to notice it more.

Snape sat down on his couch and closed his eyes. He was tired.

There was a nice silence.

_Bang! Bang! Bang!_

Snape opened his eyes and looked at the window, where the noise was coming from. He stood up and drew back the curtains, revealing a brown owl, pecking rapidly at his window. There was a small note in its beak. Snape gave the owl a look at opened the window. The bird flew in and sat down on the wooden table. Snape walked over to where it had perched and slipped the note from its beak. It was tied tightly with a string. He looked at the tight knot and began to undo it when he heard the pecking again and looked up to see the owl pecking at the table, making tiny dents.

"Go!" said Snape, moving his hand in a hitting motion towards the owl. The owl gave a hoot and perched itself on the couch beside Snape and bean pecking his arm. "What do you want?" The owl screeched and opened its mouth. "If you want food, I'm not giving you a morsel. Starve to death." The owl screeched again. Snape rolled his eyes as the owl rapidly began to fly around the sitting room, circling overhead, screeching. Snape continued to untie the knot. It was very hard. After a minute, or two, it was undone. Snape threw the string to the side and unraveled the note. The owl continued screeching. Snape dropped the note on to the table and looked at the owl.

"I'll go feed you now . . ." he said airily, standing up and walking into his kitchen, the mad owl following. The note's contents were facing the ceiling:

_The Potters are staying at Godric's Hallow. _

**A/N: **_**And I said, "Romeo, save me, please don't go to Florida. There's an oil spill that's making the beaches gross. Oh, and will you be at school for the last day?" He looked at me and he began to say, "Listen to me Juliet, I wanna go to Universal Studios. Come with me and we can go on roller coasters. I wouldn't miss the last day if you gave me the world. So let's go pack 'cause you're my favorite girl! **_**Oh, you finished reading already? Well how was it? Oh, don't mind me singing . . . he he . . . anyway, seriously, was it good? Tell me in your reviews! I know it was short, but do you think I care? I do, actually. This is getting NOWHERE! I'm not exactly proud of this chapter, but it's the best I can do. I have to keep writing, because I'm feeling a bit of writer's block coming on again and stopping isn't going to help. Motivate me! Review! I know for a fact from the people who have added me to Alerts or PMed me, that some of you aren't reviewing! Just say 'Good' or 'Bad' and I shall be content! Oh, and if you want to give me ideas, PM me, don't put it in your review. OK, bye! :)**


	11. The Visit

_**A/N: Here's our next update. Sorry they might be coming slower than usual, but I have other things to do besides write. Anyway, so here we go, Severus is now going to visit the Potters at their new home. Do they know that he's coming? Will he be welcomed or rejected? Will there be an awkward situation? Well, that's what this chapter shall unfold!**_

_**BTW, **_**Seizing The Future **_**isn't a real soap opera, as far as I know. I just made it up at random. Tell me if it's actually a soap opera.**_

_**Enjoy!**_

_**This chapter is dedicated to dearmanica, a creative writer and an awesome friend.**_

_**Disclaimer: Harry Potter doesn't belong to me, it is a trademark of JKR and WB.**_

Lily sat up in bed and stretched. She rubbed her eyes and gave a yawn. She was exhausted. Lupin had brought over a television he had gotten his hands on. "Thought it might keep you occupied, you know. I don't know what it does exactly . . . . still, reading books can get a little boring, I must admit," he had said. Lily hadn't watched TV in ages. Those years at Hogwarts were televisionless and she rarely watched a program during the summer. And once she was married, it was out of her life for good. She had forgotten how entertaining and addicted TV could be. She was up until 3 o'clock in the morning watching a soap opera marathon. At 11, James decided to go to bed. The show bored him.

"When will you come in?" he asked his companion.

"Once I find out if Chad breaks up with Angela or not!" she had snapped. "It won't take too long." The show was called _Seizing The Future _and the marathon had started at 8 PM. After each half an hour episode, the words "To be Continued" would appear on the screen and she would have to watch the next episode to find out what happened. Finally, at the 2:30 AM episode, things were finally resolved and there were no more cliffhangers. Still vagely wondering if Marissa would find her long lost love in the end, she went to sleep.

Now sitting up and almost awake, Lily's gaze wondered over towards the clock. It read 11 o'clock. She suddenly woke up. She wasn't supposed to sleep in. certainly not _this _late. She had to take care of Harry. She quickly changed into a blue T-shirt and a pair of white jeans and ran out of her room.

"James?" she called through the house. "James, did you feed Harry?" There was no reply. "James?" Nothing. She rushed itno the nursery. Nobody was inside. She dashed down the stairs into the sitting room. Nothing. She checked the bathrooms, even the closets to see if they were hiding. No one. She was panicking now. "JAMES?" she shouted at the top of her lungs. She burst into the living room to find a piece of paper on the kitchen table:

_Don't worry. I took Harry to Sirius's house. We'll be back at 2. I fed him and everything. Don't be scared, we've got great security. Get some rest, you looked exhausted. See you later! Love, James._

Lily gave a sigh of relief and collapsed into a chair. The idiot! She knew this would happen, she just knew it! They'd been in hiding for a month now and James was getting more restless by the second! It's one thing running off with Sirius by himself, but taking the baby? He was mental! She was going to tell Dumbledore about this. She looked over the note again. He had said that they had great security. What did he mean by great security? This was so frustrating! She crumpled the note up into a ball and threw it across the room.

The doorbell rang. Lily quickly stood up and left kitchen. She went towards the door and peered through the hole. It was Remus. Still, she had to be ready. She put her wand in her hand. "Who's there?"

"Remus Lupin," he replied.

"If you really are Remus Lupin," she said. "Then what's your least favorite place in Hogsmeade?"

"The Shreiking Shack. Who are you?"

"Lily Potter."

"If you really are Lily Potter, then what's your greatest pet peeve?"

Lily opened the door. "When my husband takes my baby and goes to Sirius's house without telling me!" Lupin stepped inside and sat down on the couch.

"Are you serious?" he asked. "James and Harry left? Why didn't you stop them?"

"I was asleep! I just woke up!"

"You slept in?" He grinned. "Now that's a first."

"This isn't funny!" she yelled.

"I know, I know, I know!" he said, resuming his straight face. "Why were you asleep? Sick?"

"No! I was watching that wretched TV until 3 in the morning!" She scowled.

"Oh . . . sorry . . ."

She slammed herself into the couch beside him. "Don't be sorry, this isn't your fault. I knew James would get restless and I knew Sirius would probably help him get out. This shouldn't be a problem, having to be awake at every moment to see if James is going to run away." She sighed. "But taking Harry? That's the worse thing they could possibly do!"

"How'd you find all this out?" asked Remus. "How do you know if they left? What if they were captured?"

"They left a note," she said. "Wanna see it?"

"Sure." She stood up and walked into the kitchen. She picked up the ball on the floor and uncrumpled it. She layed it flat on the table, then folded it on half. She returned to the sitting room and handed it to Remus, sitting down. He read it over and looked at the note more closely. "It's crumpled," he noted.

"Oh, that's my fault," she said. "I got frustrated and I crumpled it up and threw it across the room. It was neater when I found it."

"That _is _James's writing." He paused, looking over the note again. "Security?"

"That's what I said! What kind of security is it?"

"I don't know. But between me and you, I think he only said that to calm you down. He wants you to relax while he's gone, I guess."

"This is all my fault!" she said, her eyes swimming with tears. "I slept in and needed rest and that's why they left!"

"No," he objected. "I gave you that TV that made you stay up late and sleep in and need rest and that's why they left."

"In reality, it's Dumbledore's fault that he made us go into hiding!"

"For your own good. Really, it's Snape's fault for telling Voldemort the prophecy and send him after you."

"It's Voldemort's fault for being a duranged lunatic who likes to murder people!" she wailed.

"Let's just blame Trelawney," he said calmly, rubbing her back. "You OK?"

"Yes," she said, rubbing her eyes. "Thank you, Remus. I'm just so worried." He took his hand off her back.

"It's OK. They'll be fine. How about I go to Sirius's house and see how they are and give you a full report?"

She sniffled. "I'd love that."

"Great, then that's what I'll do," he said, standing up. "I'll be back soon. Oh-" he paused. "-has he come yet?"

"Who?" she asked.

"Never mind . . . . it's just that . . . Sirius told somebody else about where you guys are. I thought maybe he had already come . . . anyway, he'll come soon enough . . ."

"Who? Who?" she said, leaping off the couch.

"You sound like an owl," he teased, trying to get off topic.

"Is it one of James's friends? I bet it is!"

"Not exactly . . ."

"What? Really? It's somebody for me?" she exclaimed, filled with excitement to see who the mystery person was.

"I've said enough," said Lupin.

"Oh please, Remus, tell me more!"

"No, Sirius said just to tell you that somebody's coming so you won't freak out when he comes."

"Please, one more hint on who he his!"

"Do you want me to go see your husband or not?"

"I do, I do, I do-"

"Now you sound like you're getting married!"

"-but, please, tell me! I'll act surprised! I'm the world's best actress!"

"Nope, sorry, I'm going," he said, walking towards the door. "One more?" she plead. Remus opened his mouth when the doorbell rang. He gave a grin.

"OK, here's a hint: He's right outside and he's a lucky arse that your husband isn't home."

Lily raised an eyebrow. She sat down. "Remus, Remus tell me!" Lupin opened the door. "Remus, you're evil!"

"If I'm so evil, then why the hell am I running an errand for you?"

"Oh, Remus, tell me . . . please . . ."

"Lily, he's right here. Relax." Severus Snape walked into the house. "See? How would you have liked it if I had told you?"

Lily gaped. "I wouldn't have liked it at all. Thanks."

"You're welcome. I'll be back. Bye."

"Bye." said Lily, staring at Snape. The door closed and they were alone. "So . . . it's you . . ."

"Obviously."

"Sirius told you?"

"If he hadn't, I wouldn't be standing in front of you right now."

"You asked him?"

"No, I don't know why he told me. He didn't even tell me, he sent me a note."

"That's dangerous! What if the owl was intercepted? Somebody else could've found out where we are!"

"Since when does Black think before doing dangerous things?"

"I have to agree with you this time," she moaned. "He took James and Harry to his house this morning."

"And you didn't do anything about it?"

"I was asleep! Why doesn't anybody get it?"

"You don't give anybody time to, as you say, 'get it'." he said softly. "So Black took your husband and your son to his house? Such a responsible Secret-Keeper . . ."

"I'm so angry with him!" she said. "And with James! James shouldn't have gone! And he took Harry!" She threw the note across the room again. "I feel like destroying this whole room and making him clean it up when he gets back!"

"Feel free," said Snape. He leaned against the wall and folded his arms across his chest. "Let me know when you're done."

Lily stood up and glared at him. "Why are you even here?"

"Because I'm supposed to be."

"You didn't have to come!"

Snape sighed. "And if I didn't, then what? I get a lecture from Dumbledore about how rude I've been and how ungrateful and unthankful and that I should apologize. Mrs. Potter, if you were under as much supervision and regulation as I am at present, you too would avoid as many lectures as possible. Unfortunately, that means doing things I have no desire whatsoever to do."

"So you don't want to be here?" she asked, wondering why he was being, as he said, supervised.

"Not nessecarily," he said calmly, watching Lily grow angrier. "Though now that I think about it . . . I should actually thank Black for taking Potter and Potter Jr. out. It makes things so much easier for me."

"Oh, shut up!" she snapped and he raised his eyebrows. "I am so pissed off right now and all you do is make it worse."

"Like you didn't make my _life _worse," he muttered, loud enough for her to hear.

"How did _I _make your life worse?" she demanded.

"I could think of a trillion reasons. But I'd rather not be bothered by such foolishness. If there's nothing you need of me, I ought to be leaving."

"I need you . . . to . . . er . . . help me with something!" she said quickly. She was furious, but she knew her only chance of being forgiven was walking out the door.

He sighed. "What do you want?"

"I need you to . . . help me unpack the nursery! There's still three more _huge _boxes to finish and well . . . I need a man's help."

"Unless I am mistaken," he said. "I believe your husband is a man."

"Well, that's just it, you see, I planned on doing it with him right about now, but obviously, he isn't here, so . . . yeah . . ."

"Isn't Lupin coming back? Can't he help you?"

"Full moon was a few nights ago. He's too . . . weak to help me."

He gave another sigh. "Fine."

She beamed. "Great! Come with me, I'll show you what we need to do."

It was true that there were three boxes to unpack, but she knew she could've done it herself in an hour. Still, she needed to say sorry again. She lead him upstairs to the nursery.

"Well . . . this is . . . quite a nursery," he said, uncertainly, as they walked in.

"Isn't it? My nursery was like this, of course, it was pink, and I shared it with Petunia. I wanted Harry to have a nice room all to himself." She smiled and looked around. "Now, the boxes." She opened the closet door and pulled out the three large boxes. "I'm going to look through them, and if I need help with anything that's heavy or is in a bunch of pieces, then you help me. So, you can just sit down for now." He leaned against the wall, his arms crossed. "Or you can do that."

"Lily, I know you don't need any help," he said after five minutes.

_He called me Lily again. _"You're too smart for this," she muttered. She shut the box and sat on it. "I'm sorry."

"For wasting my time?" he asked.

"No, for fighting with you. Do you forgive me?"

"I've answered that question once before and I don't intend on doing it again."

"I know, you said forgive to be forgiven, but I want to be forgiven without forgiving."

"And I want to have a six-pack and buy a mansion with my billions of galleons. It's impossible."

"But come on, I want-"

"We all want things," he spat. "That doesn't mean we're going to get them. I've wanted things forever, and _never _have I gotten one thing I wanted. And if I did, it came a with a price. A huge price."

"What is up with you? Why can't we talk like we used to?"

"Because, this isn't how things were when we were eleven, no matter how much we - you wish it was. Too much has gone between us. You're sick to believe that after years of coldness, that you showing up at my house, arresting me, and then trying to be my best friend again is going to make everything right. It doesn't work like that. There's only so much you can ignore."

"You told me to arrest you!"

"And you actually listened to me. That just shows how stupid you can be." He stood up straight again. "I don't think you need me here anymore. I doubt I'll have much time to come anytime soon."

"And what do _you _have to do that's so important?"

"If you recall back to our conversation a few weeks ago, I said that I was going to teach at Hogwarts in September. It's nearly September." He smirked. "Unless you're so thick-skulled you've forgotten."

"Can't you ever shut up?" she yelled.

"No . . . no, I don't think so. I ought to leave then, give you the quiet you need." He walked out the nursery door, then poked his head back in. "Oh, don't bother to write, either." And with that, he was gone.

_**A/N: I get it, I know, it's getting very repeatative, this story, but things are going to change now. For real. Next chapter is the last time Lily's going to speak or talk at all for a few chapters. And she won't talk to Snape again until the final chapter of the story! So that's a good thing, right? I'm deadly sick of Lily. Next chapter: FLASHBACK! I might update tomorrow or Saturday if I feel encouraged enough to do it. So review. If not, don't expect an update for about two weeks. I'm busy. Anyway, bye for now.**_


	12. The Trial

_**A/N: Hey guys! Did you miss me? I missed you! I said I'd be back in a week, but it's been a bunch of weeks! UGH! I'm sorry, but like, I've had a bunch of band practice lately and a lot of other stuff. This is going to be the first and last update in and for a long time. I'm going on vacation again. I know, it sucks, but I'm excited!**_

_**OK . . . I have to tell you to tell you this: I decided to make this court case based more on Karkaroff's court case in the the Goblet of Fire movie. I think it makes it scarier for the prisoner, which is what I want. Being chained to a chair, psh, that's nothing. Being put in a cage with spears staring at your eye . . . that's better . . . . But anyway, enjoy tis and review if you please. It took a while to write, but it was worth it . . . I hope!**_

_**This chapter is dedicated again to SeverusSnape19 for writing Child of Darkness. It's so good, it's addicting. Literally! I know how much you hate Lily, so I made this as Lily-free as possible, just for you, girl! Hope you like it!**_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own HP, it belongs to JKR and WB.**_

_**FLASHBACK:**_

James slammed himself into a seat in the court room. He was rushed with emotions. He didn't know exactly what to feel.

Should he feel excited that his enemy was about to go to prison?

Should he feel sad that another soul was lost to the darkness?

Should he feel angry that they were even holding a trial for somebody who should be locked up permanently already?

He saw all these emotions, right beside him. He saw the excitement glitter in Sirius's eyes at the cage in front of them, where Snape would soon be. He saw the sadness in Lily's eyes, that her childhood best friend was going to be locked up. He saw the anger in Mad-Eye Moody's face, his smirk, his angry curled up look, and his mutters of: "Don't matter how old he be, he's a Death Eater all the same. Lock him up."

Snape's trial was quite big. Many people had come to watch, Ministry officials, Aurors, many Order members, and about a dozen reporters. The _Daily Prophet_ wanted to catch everything about the trial. After all, Snape was one of the youngest Death Eaters, and would be Azkaban's youngest prisoner. This was enormous. Rita Skeeter was sitting in the front row, right in front of where Snape would be.

"Where's Dumbledore?" Lupin whispered in his ear. James shrugged.

"He has to be coming. I mean, seriously, he interrogated Snape. Besides, everyone else is here."

"It's a wonder Voldemort hasn't showed his ugly face up yet," snickered Sirius. James smiled weakly. Dumbledore finally arrived and took a seat near them.

"Well, this is quite a social event, isn't it?" said Dumbledore.

"This is probably the biggest party Snivelly's ever been to," said Sirius to his best friend, who had to chuckle. Barty Crouch took his seat.

"OK, so Crouch is here. Why isn't it starting?" whispered James.

"They have to wait for all the Wizengamot members to arrive," replied Dumbledore. "Unfortunately, three are late, so we are still waiting."

Moody leaned towards Dumbledore. "I just got word. They brought Snape from Azkaban. He's below," he whispered as he pointed to the ground. "It might take them a while to get him on the stand, if he puts up a fight."

"Stand?" whispered Lily.

"There have a stand below this room. The prisoner has to be chained to it and then the stand rises up, like a pedestal. Look at the cage. See, there's no bottom. When they raise a prisoner up, the stand makes the bottom of the cage."

"Do they go back down the same way?" asked Lupin.

"No, they'll take him out the door," said Moody, not explaining why.

"I doubt he'll give them any trouble," said Dumbledore.

"I wouldn't be so sure," said Moody, warily. "He might be skinny, but he's not stupid. He'll find someway, anyway, to get out of this mess. With his 'I'm poor and young and helpless' mask, he could fool even the Minister into thinking he's innocent." Dumbledore sighed. He looked anxious.

James looked around the room again. Reporters were pulling out their Quick-Quotes Quills and pads of paper. Photographers were setting up their cameras.

"Snape's gonna freak when he sees how many people are here," said Sirius. "Shy, skinny Snivellus, in that cage, with all those people staring at him and shouting at him and flashing pictures. He's gonna faint!"

"I'm surprised at how many people showed up," said Lupin.

"Well, if he's guilty, he'll be the youngest prisoner in Azkaban so far. It's a big deal." said Alice Longbottom, who was also sitting with them.

"And if they let him off the hook, there'll be enough people to start a riot against the Wizengamot." said Frank. "People want to be prepared for whatever happens." A few men began adjusting the spears on the cage.

Lily was staring at the cage. "I can't believe he's really down there," she said quietly. "I can't believe he's going to be in there, in that cage. I can't believe I made this happen."

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Stupid bench.

_Spit._

Stupid chains.

_Spit._

Stupid guard.

_Spit, spit!_

That guard was evil.

He could hit him or yell at him or summon a dementor to stay in the room.

Stupid Lily.

_Spit, spit, spit!_

Stupid Dumbledore.

_Spit, spit, spit, spit, spit!_

Stupid Aurors, stupid Azkaban, stupid trial.

_SPIT!_

"Why the hell do you keep spitting?" said one of the guards. Snape quickly looked up at him.

"No reason," he said, quickly and quietly.

"There is a Gawd damn reason, and I know it! Tell me why the hell you're spitting! And talk, you damn skinny brat, stop whispering!"

Snape sighed under his breath. This stupid guard, this one, he was Snape's least favorite. He was always saying 'hell' or 'damn' in every sentence, interfering with personal stuff, laughing at him, mocking him.

Then again, they all mocked and laughed.

They didn't know what he was going through.

_They _should be going to Azkaban.

"Because I hate my life," he muttered.

"Well, hell to that," the guard replied. "It's damn obvious, not that I blame you. I'd hate my life to hell if I were you. Then again, I wouldn't have been as damn stupid as you were."

Snape looked at the concrete floor and rolled his eyes. There were three guards today. One inside the large cell beneath the courtroom with him, and two right outside the door, but one was for sending and receiving messages, so he was seldom there. Right now, he was above, in the courtroom, waiting for the message that the trial was about to start.

Snape was nervous about the trial. He could hear many voices through the hole in the ceiling that led to the cage where he was going to be. There had to be plenty of people there. He hated being stared at, being yelled at. This was going to be nerve wracking. Worst of all, he knew it was pointless. He should be thrown in prison already. Why have a trial?

So he could be humiliated further and admit his crimes to the entire world?

_I guess so . . ._

"Why the hell are you so quiet?" snapped the guard. Snape looked up again.

_Why the hell are you always saying 'why the hell'? _"I don't know. I just am."

"You're always so damn quiet, you know? And you're skinny as hell. You're probably shy as hell too." He chuckled. "You won't last a damn minute out there, in the courtroom, I mean. I just got the news, nearly one hundred damned people are at your trial. One hundred, damn you! Why the hell would they go to see you? Probably 'cause, to be going to Azkaban, you're young as hell."

"Probably," he said. _One hundred people . . ._

"You'll probably faint-"

_To hell, _thought Snape.

"-to hell, skinny. You need to be more damn courageous and talk more. And, hell with it, get stronger. Makes people, especially, ladies, think you're a lot damned better than you really are. Hell, I did that."

_And now you're standing in a prison cell guarding me at low wages._

"Then again, that doesn't matter at all to you, since you're damned to prison for eternity. Ah, well, sometimes you can help, and other times, you just can't help a damn."

Snape's eyes wandered to the hole in the ceiling again. What was he going to do?

"Scared?" asked the guard.

Now Snape was surprised. His first sentence without a hell or a damn. Snape nodded, not looking at him. "Well, don't be. Hard as the truth may be, even when people write stories and yell at you and make you embarrassed, you just got to remember, you're not gonna see them again." Then the guard laughed. "Until you all go to _hell _together!"

Some people never change.

The guard was still laughing when there was a tap at the cell door. he stopped, cleared his throat and said, "Who is it?"

"Me," said the voice.

The guard opened the door and the messenger guard, was there. "I just got word, the last three Wizengamot members have arrived. They're ready for him. It is crowded in there, let me tell you!"

Snape felt his heart skip a beat.

"Fine, fine, fine, but you've gotta help me get the brat on the damned stand. He might give a hell of a fight."

"Not with those skinny arms, he won't," cackled the messenger. "Yeah, sure, I'll help you." The two men walked towards Snape . The guard grabbed his wrists and the messenger detached the chains from the wall.

He could struggle and run free if he wanted.

Then again, they'd catch him.

And, though he hated to admit it, the messenger was right. He was too scrawny to even give a good struggle. Forget it.

The messenger attached the chains to the stand and Snape stood on it. It was just a circle on the ground. A voice from above shouted, "Ready?"

"Yeah!" shouted the messenger. "See you, skinny." And he tugged a rope.

At first, nothing happened. and Snape's shaky nature and leaping heart halted for a second. Then, the stand began to rise, up, towards the hole in the ceiling. He was going up, up towards the courtroom.

He was scared.

_Take control, take control . . . stop shaking, nothing's going to happen, you just have to be calm, come on, take control! _But he couldn't cease shaking. The courtroom was closer than ever. Finally, his shaking slackened, though his nerves did not. In a matter of seconds, the stand had risen like a pedestal and Snape was in a cage in a courtroom, spears and people alike, staring at him. He was facing Barty Crouch, who looked merely bored. A few men began to adjust the spears a bit, so they weren't directly in the young man's face.

"Severus Tobias Snape, you have been brought here from Azkaban by the Ministry of Magic, to receive trial on the accounts of Death Eater activity. Do you accept these charges?"

"I do, sir," he said, trying to speak up, but he felt he just couldn't. Cameras flashed in his eyes, and behind him. He heard the scratching of quills. He looked down, and saw Rita Skeeter, sitting eagerly near him, curls bouncing on her shoulders.

He gave quick glances around the room. There were so many people! He tried to find people he knew, in an attempt to not faint and get pinched by all the spears. After a while, he finally found a group of people he knew. _Let's see, Potter, Black, Lupin, Longbottom I, Longbottom II, Lily, Moody, Dumbledore . . . _

That was it! Dumbledore! Dumbledore could get him out of this mess! He had told Dumbledore the interpretation of the prophecy, the man surely had to help him get out of prison! He wanted to scream, but decided to focus back to Crouch, feeling better.

"Do you claim to have been under the Imperius Curse?" began Crouch.

Snape thought for a moment. Saying that could get him out! But not saying it would be the truth, and if Dumbledore was going to save him, he would have to do his part. "No," he said. Rita Skeeter's mouth shaped into an O and she began to shake with excitement, watching her quill write a marathon of words. People around the room seemed surprise that he told the truth.

"Interesting," said Crouch, the man next to him writing something down. "Now, one of your charges is the charge of murder. Do you admit to the Wizengamot that you have murdered?"

Everyone knew he had murdered. "Yes," he said.

"How many people, wizards or Muggles alike, have you killed?"

"I . . . I don't know, exactly . . ."

"Give us an estimate, anything, an approximate number."

"I don't know . . . five . . . maybe four . . . maybe six."

The man scribbled something down and Crouch waited. Then, he said, "How many of this number were Muggles?"

"One or two."

"And the rest were wizards?"

"Yes, sir."

"No Squibs?"

"I don't think so."

More writing. This was boring, he had to admit.

"Another one of your charges is use of Unforgivable Curses. Do you admit to the Wizengamot that you have used, if not all, an Unforgivable Curse?"

"Yes."

"Please specify the ones you have used."

"The . . . The Cruciatus and the Killing Curse."

"Not the Imperius?"

"No, sir."

"And how many times have you used the Cruciatus Curse?"

"Maybe ten . . . fifteen . . . twenty times . . . I couldn't tell you an exact number."

"Twenty! Merlin, what a crime!" he heard Rita Skeeter breath. He rolled his eyes. _She's just a stupid blonde._

"On how many people?"

"I couldn't even give you an estimate."

"He's tortured and murdered! He's a swine! Make him pay! Send him to Azkaban!" shouted Moody. Snape looked at him. He was standing up, fist in the air. _He's a just a mad man._ A few people nodded in agreement, others said, "Yes!", but a few others hushed Moody down. More cameras flashed, stinging his eyes. Snape felt a bit intimidated, and he tried backing as far into the cage as he could to get away from the scene, but a spear poked his back. He quickly moved up, wincing at the pain.

"Please," said Crouch. "Silence in the court." Moody growled and sneered, but sat down. "Now, may we please get on with this?" There was a silence. "Thank you. Now-" he turned back to Snape. "-the next charge you are accounted for is Death Eater activity. Do you deny that you are a Death Eater?"

"No, I don't."

"Do you deny that you have been working for the Dark Lord for the past five years?"

The audience seemed surprised. Murmurs of "Five years?" came from around the room. "He was . . . sixteen years old!" Someone whispered loudly.

"No."

"Do you deny that when you were sixteen years of age, you received the Dark Mark?"

"No, sir."

More scribbling. "Have you, or have you not, conjured the Dark Mark over a dwelling?"

"I have."

"Over the house of a Ministry official who you _murdered!" _someone shouted. People yelled in agreement. Snape fidgeted in the cage, trying again to back up, but groaned and winced at the sharp knife-like objects at the back of the cage. The spears moved, making the cage move. A man came over by the cage to fix the spears again. The poked him in the back. He moved up towards the front part of the cage again, listening the yells of outrage. Cameras flashed like lightning. _Dumbledore, why don't you do something? _He looked over at the old man, who's blue eyes caught Snape's black. They stared at each other. _Please, _Snape thought hard. _Please, I helped you, now you have to help me. Please, you're the only one who can help. They won't listen to me, they always listen to you. You're a Wizengamot member too! Why aren't you up there? Please. _They stared until Crouch called attention.

"SILENCE!" Crouch roared. The room calmed down at once. "Thank you!" he said, sounding exasperated. He looked around the room. "Now, the Wizengamot will take five minutes to decide the result of this case. Please, be relatively quiet while we decide-"

But people had started a riot again. "Give 'im a lifetime in Azkaban!" "THE KISS! THE DEMENTORS'S KISS!" "Make him pay, make him pay!"

"SILENCE IN THE COURT!" Crouch shouted at the top of his lungs. The room fell silent. "As I was saying, please keep your voices down while we decide. But before we start voting-" He looked at Snape. "-you get one last chance speak. Do you have anything to say?"

Snape's mind went spinning. What could he say to get Dumbledore to help him? It had to be something convincing, yet honest. That was a hard combination, he had to admit.

"I . . . I know what I did was wrong . . . and that it most definitely deserves Azkaban, but I . . . I _am_ sorry for what I did . . . but . . . that doesn't mean I shouldn't be punished." Convincing, but true.

Crouch looked down at his paper. "Very well, we will discuss this matter now. Please, we need some silence."

The Wizengamot members gathered together and began to talk. The others began to talk in low murmured voices.

Snape watched the members. He tried to listen to their conversation, but they spoke to softly for him to her. He tried to count how many people had raised their hands, wondering if it was for his release or imprisonment.

His eyes shot back over to Dumbledore again. Why wasn't he doing anything? He told Snape that night, the night Snape told Dumbledore the interpretation of the prophecy, that he trusted him, that he would help him. He was breaking his promise!

Dumbledore didn't look at him, for he and Moody were talking.

But Snape swore that Dumbledore was avoiding him. Who could have a conversation with Moody for more than two minutes?

_Dumbledore, LISTEN! They're deciding my fate right now, you have to tell them what you think! YOU HAVE TO HELP ME!_

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"We have made a conclusion," said Crouch, getting the crowd's attention.

Snape gave one last glance at Dumbledore, who was looking straight ahead. Finally, Dumbledore's eye met his and Snape gave one last plea. Then he looked at Crouch, who was reading off a paper now.

"Severus Tobias Snape . . .

"The members of the Wizengamot . . .

"Have come to a conclusion . . .

"The Wizengamot of the Ministry of Magic . . .

"Have ruled you . . .

"Guilty

"Of all charges . . .

_"And_ have condemned you to a lifetime in Azkaban prison. . . . ."

The world felt blank.

Like someone had switched off the lights.

It began to come back to him, all in a blur, colors, swirling in front of his eyes, but he couldn't recognize any of them.

He couldn't have fainted because he knew he had walked out. But he didn't remember anything more. His world was spinning in front of his eyes. Anger, sadness, hopelessness, weakness, fear, anxiety, and most of all, pain, consumed him. He felt senseless, not hearing the shouts, not seeing the cameras, not tasting to blood his lip was giving, not smelling the salty water as they threw him on the boat to Azkaban . . .

The only thing he remembered was feeling the tears roll down his face.

_**A/N: Now that took me a long time to write. Hope it was enjoyed. Next chapter: Snape's first day and class at Hogwarts. Next update will be sometime in September. Oh, and BTW, I hope you all know by now that this story is going to be a trilogy. Lily's Prisoner, Lily's Lover, and Lily's Choice. Unexpected (or maybe, you did expect it) endings! Love you guys! XOXO!**_


	13. The Professor

_**Hey you all! I had a very interesting time reading your reviews and I think we all agree on how random and crazy that was!**_

_**Well, I said it was the last update in a long time, didn't I? Well, I'm terribly bored at the moment. Soo . . . why not write the next chapter, huh?**_

_**This is a very important chapter in the series, OK? First of all, this is the start of a wonderful . . . LILY VACATION! She is not in this story until the last chapter. Oh, come on guys, don't be upset! When she comes back, it will be dramatic and awesome! You will be happy she's been gone for as long as she will! And besides, haven't you realized that there will only be four more chapters after this one? Not too long. For those of you who don't miss her, savor these precious chapters. Also, we introduce an OC whose presence shall be very important in the sequel. If you hate him, don't worry, he doesn't appear again in this story and he leaves before the third installment.**_

_**So here we go, back to the present. Snape's first night at Hogwarts (sorry, this doesn't include the Start of Term feast or Snape's first lesson. :( Sorry.)**_

_**Dedicated to Nymma.**_

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"And these are your rooms."

He had emphasized on the word 'your'. He was very happy and proud that this . . . this wreck of a young wizard, was now a teacher. A professor. Here. Teaching Potions. It seemed just amazing, nearly impossible, that over half a year ago, this man was a wanted murderer. After trials and talks and much convincing done, he was now Potions Master _and _Head of Slytherin House. He had to admit, this may have been one his best tasks accomplished, well, besides discovering the uses of dragon's blood. Still, he was happy he was able to build a life back up from the dust with nothing but a few galleons and a lot of trust.

But you would think, that if you bailed a man out of prison, gave him a bit of money (even if it was just a tiny, very, very tiny amount), his home back, and gave him a very good job- a career- that he would be at least a tad more grateful that this. This was just stubbornness and rebellion and anger. Severus Snape was acting like a teenager being dragged somewhere by his parents . . . somewhere he didn't want to go to.

"Well, what do you think?"

Snape looked around the dark sitting room, knowing that past the two doors across from him would be a bedroom and a bathroom. tHe room was fine. It was a nice size. There was a large bookshelf filled with books and plenty of room for more, a crimson sofa, a coffee tables, some chairs, a desk, a fireplace, and even a window. He liked the dungeons. They were dark, but in a comforting way. He liked being able to hide, but he also liked being able to see. The darkness here permitted him to do both. See, but not be seen. It was relaxing. And if was never too hot. But, he had to admit, sometimes it got too cold for his liking. But that didn't matter much, it was easy to adjust to. "It's fine," he said quietly. He liked the room, in fact, he liked it better than his own home! But he didn't want to teach, he didn't want to be in Dumbledore's pocket all the time. Of course, he was grateful- and loyal, of course. But this wasn't where he had ever seen himself.

He had seen himself with the Dark Lord, at his side. Forever. But that was over. The Dark Lord was filthy and evil and perverted and inhuman. His mind was the mind of an animal- a monster: Find your prey, be number 1, be the leader, be the master. It was disgusting. Dumbledore's views were much more light and they were guiltless. Purely guiltless.

"Filch had your things brought into the bedroom-" Dumbledore gestured over at the door to the left. "-and you know where your office and classroom both are. There's a door in your bedroom and it leads to a study and there's a storage closet right over there-" He pointed to a third door. "-and you can store extra ingredients or cauldrons there, just to have them on hand. Your personal stores are in the locked area of your classroom. Oh, and we shall be gathering for dinner in the staff room at seven."

"Yes, well, Headmaster, I don't really think I should-"

"It will not be necessary for you to attend every meal while you are here. However, it is mandatory that you are present on certain occasions and this is one of them. You are a new staff member and you need to be introduced to the others."

"But I know them already, Headmaster-"

"Not all of them. Some of them came last year, or the year before. And you are not the only new addition to our staff this year. We have a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher." Snape was about to protest, but Dumbledore raised his hand. "I will book no refusal, Severus. I expect you to be present tonight." And with that, he left.

Severus gave a sigh and sat down on the sofa. He never liked social events of any kind. Just eating with other people made him feel uncomfortable. He had been always been solitary, even before his Hogwarts days. Until he had met Lily, it seemed his childhood had only one person in it: Him.

He felt odd, thinking about Lily. He had felt a tinge of guilt when he had left her house last. She _had _tried to apologize, hadn't she? And he just pushed her away. And that was stupid. They might be in hiding under the safety of the Fidelius Charm, but he didn't trust Black to keep their secret for much longer. And he wouldn't let his last words to her be in anger.

But still, she wouldn't forgive him for what he said, so why should he forgive her? He sighed and leaned deeper into the couch. They were just running around in circles, throwing the blame at each other. Deep inside, he did forgive her for what she said, but he was going to deny it until he felt she deserved forgiveness. But that would only be when she forgave.

And she, like him, was much too stubborn to be the first one to relent.

This would probably never be resolved.

Maybe, he should forgive her first. Maybe then, she would forgive him back. But what if she didn't? What if she came out with the same old excuse "I'm not ready" instead of actually forgiving him. Maybe he didn't forgive her for being such a jerk. No, he wasn't going to do this. If this was to be resolved, she was going to have to take the first step.

He decided to push Lily out of his mind. Thinking about her used to make him feel wonderful, but now it made him feel guilty and upset. So he decided to look around his new habitat and maybe even start unpacking. He got up from his crimson couch and went into the bedroom first.

It was another small dark room. There was a bed covered in dark sheets. A small bookshelf was against the wall. There was a closet and a dresser, with a mirror atop. There was a beside table and a fireplace. Small and simple. The door to the study was across from where he was standing. His two large trunks were leaning against the bed and his three smaller ones were in a pile on the top. He looked closely at the fireplace tapestry. Serpents.

How very typical.

Severus walked into his study, and he decided immediately, this had to be private. Nobody could be allowed in, The walls were covered completely in bookshelves, besides the fireplace, put there were shelfs starting from above that too. They reached the ceiling and they were filled to the brim. The carpet was green with some silver decoration. And in the middle of this room was a large desk and a chair. There was parchment and quills and other writing utensils. And the ceiling had many carvings too. He looked around once more. Perfect.

He went back to his bedroom and started to unpack until he looked up at the clock and saw it said six-thirty. So he got changed and ready and then headed upstairs for the staff room.

It was about five minutes to seven when he slipped quietly into the staff room, trying not to be noticed. There were nine others in the staff room: Professors McGonagall, Flitwick, Trelawney and Sprout, the Ancient Runes and Arithmancy professors. There were two young women he didn't recognize: One had dark hair, tanned skin and red robes, and she wore too much eye and lip make-up. The other had fair hair, blue eyes, light skin, and robes of a nice shade of sky blue. She seemed very modest and looked much younger than she must've really been. The other person in the room was a man, a little older than he was, who was chatting happily with the two ladies. He had rich brown hair and hazel eyes. His smile was bright and his teeth were straight and pearly white. He had a nice skin tone and wore green robes.

Snape sat down in a chair in the corner and waited. Professor McGonagall, who had seen him slip in, came over to him. "Hello, Severus."

"Hello Minerva," he said quietly.

"What are you doing sitting all by yourself in a corner? Go and mingle. Look over there-" she said, and they both looked over at where the man and the ladies were speaking. "Three people your age. They're all recent additions to the staff as well. Go over there."

"No. They're always in the middle of a conversation. I don't want to interrupt them." That was a lie. He just didn't want to talk to anyone. He felt miserable.

She raised her eyebrows. "Of course." Then she leaned in and said in a hushed tone, "I know this is hard for you, Severus. Thing's have been going rather fast for you. For all of us, in fact. But just try to relax, it'll make things much easier for you." He nodded, not looking at her. She sighed and sat down at the table.

The clock chimed seven and they all sat down at the table. Snape sat between the fair haired girl and the empty seat where Dumbledore was going to be sitting. The girl smiled at him. "Hello," she said sweetly. He looked at her.

"Hello."

"I'm Charity Burbage. And you are?"

"Severus Snape," he said quietly. He liked her name.

"You must be the new Potions Master then," she said.

"Yes. And you are?"

"Oh, I'm the Muggle Studies professor. Started teaching last year."

"You're young to be a professor."

"Same with you. But Muggle Studies is an easy subject. Potions . . . not so much. You're the youngest Potions Master in centuries. Impressive."

"It wasn't easy."

"It doesn't sound like it was!" She exclaimed. "How'd you get it?"

_Well let's see, I became a Death Eater, I decided to turn, I got arrested, then I got bailed out and given the job by force. _"I don't know . . . I was always good a at Potions and then I needed a good job and Dumbledore suggested teaching and I agreed." He knew that Charity knew that that was the whole truth. His arrest had been huge news, but she was kind enough not to mention it.

"That sounds easier than it probably was," she said.

"Definitely. Enough about me-" _I didn't just say that! _"-what about you? How did you get your job?"

"The post was open, I needed a job, I applied and got accepted. Simple and easy. Muggle studies isn't a huge nor extremely necessary class, unlike Potions. There's plenty of drama though." Then she smiled. "I hope you're as good a Potion maker as Slughorn."

"I hope I'm better," he said.

"Was he your teacher?"

"Yes."

"Mine as well. I graduated a few years ago. I'm 22. You?"

"21."

She nodded. "I wonder where Dumbledore is?"

"He's nearly never late," commented Sprout.

"And I deeply apologize for being so." They all turned to look at Dumbledore who was coming in the door. He was smiling. "But that matters not." He sat down between Severus and Minerva in his large chair. "Now, I don't know about the rest of you, but I am extremely hungry." And he clapped his hands. Platters of food appeared in front of them.

"I always forget that happens," whispered Charity to Severus. He nodded at her in agreement.

"Dig in!" said Dumbledore happily. So the group of professors started to eat. Severus was staring at piece of steak that he wanted to eat but just wasn't hungry for when Charity (who had been speaking with Professor Trelawney, who had been sitting beside her) started speaking with him again.

"So, how did you get interested in Potions? Has it always been an interest of yours?"

"I've always liked it," he said, chopping the meat into tiny pieces. "My mother liked them and she had all her old books, so I guess I was always looking at those." He put a tiny piece into his mouth. It was good. "What about you?"

"Why I got interested in Muggle Studies?" He nodded. "I don't know. I've always been interested in Muggles. I'm pureblood and I didn't know anything, until I took Muggle Studies myself. Did you-?"

"No. My father . . . he was a Muggle, so I didn't see the need to take a class about Muggles when I had first hand experience." He didn't know why he was telling this girl he just met about these things. But he liked Charity Burbage. She seemed real . . . very down-to-earth and he liked having someone like that to talk to. Lily was more like the angel above the clouds who he always seemed to be looking up to.

"I see," she said, taking a mouthful of salad. Snape took another piece of meat. He wasn't hungry, yet he wasn't full and he didn't feel like he could handle the meat he was eating. This had been happening since Azkaban "So you're Muggle born? Not that I'm into all that pureblood crap, I'm just being curious."

"I don't engage in the blood purity talk either," he said. It wasn't a lie. He _had, _but now he didn't. "I'm half-blood. My mother was pureblood."

"Oh, I understand now." She took a sip of water. He did the same. "What house were you in?"

"Slytherin," he said. She looked a bit surprised.

"Oh, well, I was in Ravenclaw. Are you the new Head of Slytherin?"

"Yes," he said.

"Well, that's an honor."

He ate (or tried to eat) in silence for the remainder of the meal. When the main course had cleared away, he had eaten a few tiny bites of meat and some of the salad. He didn't feel like he could stomach much more. But then dessert appeared and he gave a tiny groan. Charity heard him. "Are you all right?"

He looked at her. "I'm fine." he said simply. She gave him a curious look.

"OK then," she said, taking a piece of chocolate cake. He sighed and followed, taking a much, much thinner piece. He took a tiny bite.

When dessert was done, he had finished eating half of it. All the dishes were cleared away and everyone was quietly talking. Finally, Dumbledore cleared his throat and everyone fell silent.

"Well, I hope we all ate well." he said. "But now that we've finished, we need to get down to business.

"As we all know, term begins on September 1st, so I'll need a copy of your lesson plans for this term in by August 28th. I'm sure that's enough time.

"Well, we have two new additions to the staff this year," he said, beaming. "This year, we have Professor Samuel Martin, teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts." Martin stood up and smiled. Snape rolled his eyes. Martin sat down. "And over here, we have our new Potions Master, Professor Severus Snape." Snape watched as everyone look at him and he did nothing but look back. He was _not _about to draw more attention to himself. "We wish both the professors good luck." And then he went around the table and said everyone else's names. The dark lady turned out to be the Astronomy teacher who had joined staff two years ago, Professor Celine Sinistra. When he had finished, he continued on about talking about things, Severus already knew. Finally, the meeting ended and Severus left the staff room as quickly as possible.

"Hey!"

Snape turned around and saw Charity coming over to him. "Severus- may I call you Severus?"

"I have no objection."

"Great. Listen, do you think maybe we could do our lesson plans together tomorrow? In the library? Madame Pince doesn't arrive until next week, so she won't be swooping around."

"I-" He wasn't sure what to say to this girl- whom he had just met. He never did things like this. But . . . well, she was nice and she wanted to befriend him and he didn't really have anyone else. Besides, someone like Charity helped him take his mind off things. "Yes. That'd be fine."

"Wonderful!" she said, smiling. "I'll be there, say, eleven?"

"That's fine," he said.

"I think it'd be nice if we both did our plans together. I mean, you're new, I'm fairly new, so we'd be able to help each other."

The staff room door opened again and out came Sinistra and Martin. "-so I told him, I wasn't going to do anything of the . . . Why, hello Charity!" Martin came striding over to the two of them, Sinistra at his heels.

"Hello," said Charity.

"Terribly sorry we didn't have a chance to finish our conversation about ghouls earlier. But I am glad that you asked me about them, since I know much on the subject." He looked at Snape. "Ah, the new Potions Master. What was your name again? Snape?" Before Severus could respond, Martin stuck out his hand. "Samuel Martin. Pleasure to meet you." Snape took the hand reluctantly. "I was just talking to Celine over here about how absolutely wretched the flea market prices are this summer. The ones in Diagon Alley. I went to the alley yesterday just to buy some extra parchment, you know? I thought the markets would have a good deal. But they expect much more than an average person would want to spend on some parchment. Well, splendid talking to you." He and Sinistra walked away.

Snape looked at Charity. "Is he normally like that?"

She nodded. "I've just met him but the conversation- forgive me, I mean the lecture he gave me, since I didn't speak- we've had was just like that." They walked down the hall. "So, library tomorrow?"

"All right," he said.

"Great. I'll see you then. Bye."

"Bye." She went her way and he went his.

He was starting to get the feeling that being at Hogwarts as a teacher, wasn't very different from being a student. So far.

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_**I know, Celine is so not Sinistra's first name, but I didn't know it. Sorry that this totally sucked, but I just wanted to post something. I just realized that there's just like two-three chapters left. So why not finish this up? Review if you've got a chance.**_


	14. The Rebel

_**Hey guys! I'm back! Well, I am very glad most of you have enjoyed that last chapter, where Snape was treated like an actual human being. Indeed, such a great relief. But when the Order members come and Voldie comes and Martin becomes evil, that will change. **_

_**OK, so now, we skip the whole library thing and fast forward a bit. OK, so now it's October 25th. So Voldie has decided that because Sevvie has been so good these past few months, spying like a good little Death Eater, he is going to take Severus on a little field trip. Where? You shall find out within this chapter. **_

_**Well, I think you guys ought to know that this is the second to last chapter of this story. But you see, the thing I like about sequels and trilogies is that you don't have to resolve anything until the very end! I have everything planned MENTALLY but I am going to write down my plan for Lily's Lover today. And gosh, I really don't think anybody is expecting what's going to happen at the end of that story!**_

_**So, I am very happy that I got my 50th review for this story! Well, unfortunately, it was a bit of a rude review, so I am going to dedicate this chapter to matrice because matrice happened to be my 50th reviewer for Life Changing Letters! So here's to you, matrice! *glasses clink***_

_**I tried my best, I suck at Volddie. Oh, and btw, I looked up Sinistra on Harry Potter Wikia (after a lovely reviewer recommended it!) and her first name is . . . Celine! Nah, just kidding! Imagine . . . that'd be weird . . . but anyway, her name's Aurora Sinistra. So from now on, Celine is Aurora and she is still the Martin lover she was in the last chapter. But will she still be Martin's devoted stalker when he becomes mean? Um . . . yah! **_

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"Severus, Severus, Severus," said Voldemort quietly, slowly surrounding his spy. Snape was kneeling on the cold floor, trying not to look at the scarlet eyes that were flashing towards him. "You have been very faithful. Always you have been my favorite. And now, ever since you have taken up this position as my spy, my favor has grown." He paused. "I am pleased."

"Thank you, my Lord," he muttered. He would not look at Voldemort.

Voldemort continued his pacing. "I have decided to reward you for your efforts these past few months." Snape's ears perked up. A reward? Since when had he been given a reward for anything? "I am going to take you on a little . . . excursion. It will most definatly be helpful to you in the future."

Snape said nothing.

"I believe and I hope that if all goes well, your cover will not be blown."

Snape nodded silently. Voldemort ceased pacing.

"Severus!" he snapped. "Look at me!" Snape looked up into the firey orbs. "Look at me when I speak!"

"Yes, my Lord."

Voldemort straightened up. "I want you to assist me with a murder, Severus."

Snape felt his hopes drop. Some reward. He should have seen it coming. "A murder, my Lord?"

"Indeed. A very special murder. Of course, I will doing the- ahem- dirty work. You will be merely there to assist and observe. When you return tonight, tell Dumbledore that I wish to take you on a short trip for Halloween night and that you do not know where. Bring me his answer the next time I call for you. Then I will go, and perhaps, you will come along."

Snape nodded, his mind spinning behind the wall of Occlumency.

"My Lord?" he said, his tone hushed. "May I inquire of whom you are speaking of?"

Voldemort's mouth curled into a creepy and frightening smile that would cause a young child to whimper. Severus felt cold and tense.

"I am speaking of the Potters"

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"Severus, you have to relax! Here, drink this . . . there we go. Now, breathe."

Dumbledore put down the goblet of water and looked back at his protege. He was sitting beside him on the huge couch in Dumbledore's office. But Severus was looking distressed and nervous. He was breathing heavily and looked oddly pale. Something was wrong, of course, that such was obvious. Snape had tried to explain to Dumbledore in his terrified panic, but that only resulted in him collapsing onto the couch, head in hands. So Dumbledore had helped him collect himself and even now, ten minutes later, Severus still looked shaken.

"Now," said Dumbledore calmly. "Please explain."

Severus looked down at his hands. This couldn't be happening. They were safe . . . weren't they? Black- He was protecting them . . . or was he? Oh, he never trusted Black! They should've had someone else be Secret Keeper! This was _not _good, not at all.

"Oh God," Severus whispered, putting his face in his hands once more. "I can't do it . . ." He said a bit louder, his words slurred.

"Do what, Severus?" asked Dumbledore. His tone was soothing and opening.

Severus looked up. "He found out . . . he . . . knows . . ."

Dumbledore raised an eyebrow. "He knows . . .?"

"Where they are," said Severus. "The Potters. He found their hiding place. Black betrayed." The fear and sadness was suddenly replaced with anger. "Black betrayed . . . how could you have let that happen?"

"Severus, you need to slow down. He has discovered the Potters' hiding place?"

"YES!" Severus shouted angrily. "It was Black! I told you over and over again that Black wasn't trustworthy! But, NO! You won't listen to me! You'll agree with Potter and his gang of Gryffindors! Now look what's happened! THEY'LL BE DEAD!"

"Severus, I do not think it at all accurate to put the blame of this situation on one person. Maybe events have caused this to happen."

"Really?" he whispered in a deadly voice. "Who?"

"Well, let me see, we could blame Sybil for giving the prophecy. We could blame Lord Voldemort for wishing to go after the Potters. We could blame those who encouraged him to go after the half-blood family and not the pureblood. We could blame you for giving the prophecy to Voldemort. We could blame Aberforth for being so stupid as to let you into his pub."

Severus was silent. Of course. It was his fault. This was entirely his fault. His stupid past self was killing his best friend. _Best friend . . ._

"And Severus, we cannot be quick to blame Sirius. We do not know that it was he who betrayed."

"WHAT?" Severus yelled. "You still don't think it was him! It's obvious! He was the Secret Keeper!"

"Severus," said Dumbledore, his voice more serious. "We need to investigate this situation a bit further. Now, did Lord Voldemort tell you the day on which he will go to murder the Potters?"

"No," said Severus. "Not exactly. He said the next time he calls for me that we are to go and I am to witness the murder."

"What?" said Dumbledore, surprised. "Go with him to Godric's Hallow?"

"Yes. He said that I am to go with him."

"No," said Dumbledore. "You're not going."

"But, Headmaster, I thought, if I did go, that I could maybe protect them. Warn them. Do something. I could be of help."

"You're not going. That is the end of the discussion."

"I am not a child, Dumbledore!" Snape hissed angrily.

"No. You are an ex-con, my employee, and are in my debt. Not only that, but as you are spying for the Order of the Phoenix, what I am saying is what you will do. When he calls, you go and tell him what I have said. If he does not like it, then he can deal with it with me."

"But he-"

"You may go."

Snape froze. He gave Dumbledore an angry glare and swept out of the room.

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" . . . I told him there was absolutely no way of me doing- Oh, hello Severus!"

Snape looked up from scanning the bookshelves of the library. Charity was there, smiling at him and Sinistra was next to her.

"Hello, Charity," he said. "Um . . . how are you?"

"Just fine, thank you. Aurora and I were just looking for that _Moste Potent Potions_ book, we need it for something. Do you know where it is?"

"Restricted Section," he murmured, looking back at the shelf he was scanning. He sighed and pulled out one of the books.

"Thank you. Aurora, could you go get it?" She nodded and made her way over to the Restricted Section. Severus sat down at one of the table areas in the corner and Charity followed suit. "I haven't seen you much. You haven't been coming to meals. You haven't been anywhere."

"I've been busy," he said, looking don at the book he was scanning through. "Classes, paperwork. I guess I'm too tired to go and eat."

She nodded. "Yes, there has been a lot to do." Then she lowered her voice. "Um . . . did you know that there is a Hogsmeade trip tomorrow?"

"The day after the Halloween feast?"

"Yes. I don't know why. But there is and I was just thinking . . . I'm not going with anyone . . . would you-?"

He looked up at her. He wanted to say yes. He liked Charity, she was nice, she treated him in a human way. But what if the Dark Lord called during the visit? Or tonight? He ought to save her from embarrassment.

"Charity, I'd love to go with you, but I can't. I just have too much to do and I don't think I can go on the trip tomorrow. I just don't have time. I'm sorry."

She sighed. "It's OK, I understand. I just don't want to be stuck in a small pub sitting next to Martin and . . . Oh, hello, Aurora!"

Sinistra handed her the book. "What were you saying about Samuel, Charity?"

"Oh nothing! I was just telling Severus here that I didn't want to be stuck in a small pub sitting next to Martin and with his cough the way it is . . . UGH! It's just dreadful! Will the poor chap be going on the trip tomorrow?" Severus felt a small smile creep up on his face. Charity was clever too. He quickly resumed his frown as to not give away Charity's position.

Sinistra's eyes narrowed. "I don't know. I haven't seen him since this morning. I usually visit him hourly."

"Oh," said Charity. "Well, I best be going now, Severus. Come, Aurora." Charity stood up and when Sinistra's back was turned, Charity mouthed "HOURLY VISITS?" Snape smiled again.

How odd.

He wasn't in a mood for smiling. In fact, he was feeling very rebellious.

You see, Severus Snape was very grateful for Dumbledore, that much was true. But Dumbledore, no matter how much he had done for him, was not about to get HIM to obey a command that threatened the life of Lily Potter. His best friend. He tried to think back . . . what had been the last words he had said to her? They were selfish and stupid and rude! He wasn't going to let those words be his last to Lily.

Besides, how would he explain to the Dark Lord that Dumbledore said that he couldn't go and that if the Dark Lord wasn't happy with that, he would have to discuss it with Dumbledore?

'Dumbledore's choice on the matter was very foolish in Severus's eyes. Going would do some good. Staying would not.

And how did he know that Dumbledore was even doing anything to help the Potters? To keep them safe? Was he just about to let them go die? This was insane! He didn't know anything, so he had to take precautions.

But if he went, Dumbledore wouldn't trust him anymore. Dumbledore might just have him thrown back in prison.

And Dumbledore's trust . . . well, it meant everything to him.

But Lily meant a lot to him too.

If he got at least Lily out alive, she would tell Dumbledore he was still loyal to the Light. And if he did it with out getting his cover blown, the Dark Lord wouldn't suspect a thing!

He had made up his mind.

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He sat in his rooms after the Halloween feast he didn't attend, reading a book.

He sighed and shut it. He had no interest in it.

Then he felt it.

He took a deep breath. He put on his cloak and left the dungeons.

He arrived in the main hall. It was empty and dark. Everyone was in their dorms now, for it was nearing midnight.

He looked up towards the staircase that lead to Dumbledore's office.

He couldn't tell him that the Dark Lord called. That would spoil everything.

He turned and walked out the main door. He crossed the lawn, hidden in the shadows. He arrived at the Forbidden Forest.

He took a deep breath, put his finger to the mark, and let himself be carried away to the Dark Lord.

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_**That was pretty short. Hm. Well, I have the other chapter all written and I'm going to post it up today. Yeah! Please review. I'm hoping very hard to get sixty reviews by the end of this story!**_


	15. The Sacrifice

_**I am so sorry that I posted this chapter and then took it off! I'm sorry! I just forgot a part of my author's note. Thanks to Alethea27 for her concern on this matter. You're so sweet.**_

_**So here we are, the final chapter of this story. I am so happy to have finished this. Thank you guys so much for reading! Those who didn't review, I thank you so much, but I can't mention you. For those who did, well . . .**_

_**Thanks to:**_

_**marauderhater, HP-bookworm, Scarlett Woman, Alethea27, matrice, DracoMalfoy4Ever, , IonicAmalgam, Illusions, totalreadr at yahoo, Very Small Prophet, al, dearmanica, Move Bitch, Rohain Tahquil, abda, Cassandra30, mrsProbie, KEWLIO, MJScream, whitehound, Nymma, KatAndMonkey and catintheSky.**_

_**I love you guys! Here were are. This isn't exactly a happy chapter, but just try and enjoy it anyway.**_

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It was about a quarter to twelve on Halloween night. Many things were happening.

The last of the trick-or-treaters were retreating to their own homes with their loot and dirty costumes, excitedly deciding which of their sweets to have first and where to hide the stash from their siblings.

A few of the shops were closing for the night. The shop owners were switching off lights and locking doors and flipping the sign on the door from "OPEN" to "Sorry, we're CLOSED".

Bands of teenagers were coming home, by foot or by car, for it was nearing their curfew. Those who's curfews were later said good night and ventured back into the dark.

Lily Potter was in her room, writing something on a piece of parchment. She had been up their for hours, writing and reading, not aware of the time.

When she finally did look at the clock, she gasped. It was nearing midnight! She folded her parchment and walked out of her room.

She neared the sitting room when she stopped in the doorway. She couldn't help but smile as James played with little Harry. James was sitting on the sofa making the puffs of colored smoke coming out of his wand. Harry clapped and giggled and bounced up and down. He loved this game.

She wanted to let them play there, but she knew it was too late for Harry to be up. "Honey, it's late. I ought to take Harry up to bed."

"OK," said James, putting his wand on the table. "You going to bed too?"

"Probably," she said.

"All right then. No more puff for you tonight, little guy." He lifted up his son and gave him a kiss. "Say good night to Daddy."

"Ni' Dada," he said, still giggling.

"Good night," James handed him over to Lily, whom he kissed and whispered "Good night" in her ear. She gave the same reply and then walked away with Harry. Harry turned around and waved as he was carried out of the room.

James gave a laugh and sat down on the couch. He was considering giving the Muggle TV another chance.

He didn't hear the gate slowly creak open.

All was still.

_**Bang! **_The door burst open with sparks of red coming from it. James leapt up, his wand still on the table. He stared.

Two dark figures stood before him, one taller than the other. They started coming into the light and James gasped.

There, before him, stood Voldemort. Beside him, the shorter figure, was Severus Snape.

"LILY!" James shouted. "TAKE HARRY AND GO! IT'S HIM! LILY, GO, RUN! I'LL HOLD HIM OFF!"

"Hold me off, Potter?" whispered Voldemort. "Without your wand? See, Severus, _this _is general stupidity."

"Severus," James begged. "Severus, you have to help us. Think of Lily, Severus, think of her!"

Snape looked into his eyes. _I'm sorry, I can't save you, I can't do anything for you anymore, I want to, but I can't. _Hoping the message was received, he looked back at Voldemort.

"After all you did to him, you think he'll help you?" said Voldemort. He began to cackle. There was a flash of purple light.James screamed and fell to the floor, right in front of Severus. There was a scream of terror from upstairs. Voldemort began to search for James's wand. _Why did you come? You came to save Lily! SAVE HER! _So Severus Snape dashed up the stairs to find Lily.

There was another scream, coming from the nursery. Snape ran to the door and jammed it open. Lily gave a scream, then saw who it was. Tears streamed down her face. Snape looked around the room. Lily had been preparing to put the rocking chair, the play pen, and the night table against the door. Harry was in her arms. He pushed the door closed behind him, waiting for her to do something. She didn't move.

"Lily, the Dark Lord is downstairs looking for your husband's wand! He's going to get up here and kill you in two minutes!"

"So you just let James die?" she whispered finally, crying more. She nearly fell over when Snape caught her and made her look up at him.

"Lily, I couldn't do anything to save him, I'm sorry, I had no alternative. I came here to save _you! _Not James, you! Lily, we have to get out of here! I can get both you and your son out!" She turned away. "Lily, this isn't the time to have a quarrel, you have to come with me! Get your son and let's go!"

"Severus, it's too late now. He's killed my husband and now he's coming to kill my son."

"Lily, he's going to kill YOU! We have to go NOW!" Slow footsteps were heard. She put her baby in the crib. "Lily, what are you doing, he's coming up the stairs!"

"Let him kill me. If Harry's alive, I'm fine."

"NO! Lily . . . I can't let you DIE! I'd die _for _you! Lily, I love you!"

There was an awkward pause.

"By saying that, are you explaining why you let James die?"

"Lily Evans, I am going to make it perfectly clear to you what I meant by saying that."

And he grabbed her and kissed her.

If that was the last thing he did, he was content.

He had been hoping all his life to do that.

When they broke apart, Snape heard the door creak open. He turned around, his arms stretched out in front of Lily. She was right in front of the crib. Voldemort slipped into the room.

"Well, well, well," he whispered. "Look what we have here. My, my, her husband died not five minutes ago and she has already found a new." He chuckled. "It looks like Severus is in love with the victim, is he not?"

Severus said nothing.

"I'll take that as a yes." Voldemort said. "But, unfortunately, we do not have room for that in this society. Move away from the girl, Severus."

"No," said Snape. "You told me you wouldn't hurt her."

"And I may not if she does what she is told. Move away from the crib, Severus."

"You're going to tell her to let you kill her son. She's not going to listen and neither am I." Lily gave a gasp.

"Severus," said Voldemort in a more warning tone. "You told me you wanted her to be protected and I will let her live. But I cannot do that unless you move out of the way."

"No."

"This is your last chance. _Move away from the crib!"_

"Never."

Voldemort tutted. "You are going to regret that in a matter of seconds, Severus." Voldemort slowly began to take his wand out. "If you happen to survive this little party, which I doubt, I will call for you again and expect you to answer. We can discuss this little incident and decide on things . . . like punishment." He pointed his wand directly at Severus.

"NO!" Lily shouted, but both men ignored her. Snape stared at Voldemort, ready for death, thinking it may be coming. But . . . how?

Slowly, Voldemort spoke. _"Sectumsempra-"_

"Oh God," Severus whispered to himself.

_"-Maximus!"_

Snape collapsed to the ground, right at Lily's feet. Lily stared at him, wondering if he was dead. Why had he fallen? That wasn't the killing curse. Then she saw it. Blood was gushing out of his body. There were gashes on his arms and legs and stomach. Blood was flowing heavily from his wounded body. She knelt down beside him. "Don't worry, Severus, just hang on, please, hang on. We're going to get out of here, alive." She whispered this into his ear. He didn't speak or move at all. He tried to open his eyes, but he couldn't. He seemed to be gasping for breath.

"Well, now see here!" said Voldemort. "The body of your husband on your living room floor and the blood of your lover on your nursery carpet!" He laughed. "They've become such a part of your home."

Lily stood up and moved in front of the crib again.

"Now, all I want you to do is move away from the crib and you won't get hurt," said Voldemort.

"No," she said."You can't have him."

"Step aside, silly girl. I won't do anything to you and who knows, perhaps I'll save his life-" He gestured at Severus. "-before I go. Only he and I know the counter-curse and he's obviously to weak to tell you."

"No! You've already killed my husband! You won't have my son!"

Voldemort looked angry, then thoughtful. He smiled. "Very well," he said gently. "I won't kill your son. Or you. One . . . soon two sacrifices is good for one night." He began to laugh and he pointed his wand at Lily, shouting, _"Stupefy!" _She was blasted back, banging against the crib, falling near it. The baby started to cry. There was another flash of light and the crying stopped and Voldemort left.

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Lily sat up slowly, feeling dizzy. She looked at Severus, who was getting paler by the second, nearly all the blood drained out of him. "Sev?" she whispered. She grasped his cold hand. "Oh no, oh no, please don't be dead, please." She put her head on his chest. Finally, she heard his heart beating rapidly and soft, heavy, uneven breathing. She gave a sigh of relief. "Hold on, Sev, just a little longer, I'm going to call for help. But you have to hold on . . . I know it hurts, but just keep breathing, don't stop breathing . . . that's it." He could still hear her, for he tried to breathe more steadily, but he was too weak to move. She quickly stood up and looked around the room. Voldemort was gone.

Lily turned to look at the crib and screamed.

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_**Oh God, what just happened? I hope I have left you all confused and scared. Now, I have decided that, because I posted this baby late, that I will publish the first TWO chapters of Lily's Lover TODAY! Yeah! Thank you so much for reading and reviewing! Hope to see you soon!**_

_**Until next time,**_

_**His Lil' Half-Blood Princess**_


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